Triprangode Shiva Temple,
Malappuram – Legends
Kalasamhara
Murti:
As per legend, the great sage Mrikandu Rishi and
his wife Marudmati worshipped Lord Shiva and sought from him the boon of
begetting a son. As a result, he was given the choice of either a righteous
son, but with a short life on earth or a child of low intelligence but with a
long life. Mrikandu rishi chose the former, and was blessed with Markandeya, an
exemplary son, destined to die at the age of 16. In due course, Marudvati gave
birth to a boy and the child was named Markandeya.
Markandeya was an exceptionally gifted child and became
an accomplished sage early in his childhood. Markandeya grew up to be a
great devotee of Shiva and had mastered the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. When
he was nearing the age of sixteen, Rishi Mrikandu and his wife became sad. Markandeya
enquired about their sadness and they replied that at the age of sixteen, his
time on this earth will come to an end. Lord Yama came to take his life away.
The boy, Markandeya then ran to Lord Mahavishnu (the
preserver) but he was helpless, and he directed him to Triprangottappan (Lord
Shiva). On the way to Triprangode temple, there was a huge banyan tree that
stood by making difficulty to enter into the temple. At the time, he reached
there surprisingly the tree separated into two parts and then he could easily
enter into temple. Markandeya hugged the Shiva Lingam and requested Lord Shiva
to protect him from Yama.
Yama threw his noose around the boy-sage; it encircled
the Shiva Lingam too. At a blow, the Shiva Lingam burst open with a thundering
roar and a majestic, fiery form of Lord Shiva appeared out of the blazing
light. Lord Shiva was very anger and asked whether Yama had courage to encircle
the Shiva Lingam with his noose, Shiva struck down Yama with his Trident (trishula),
and Yama was no more. Markandeya was escaped from death. Lord Shiva blessed
Markandeya with eternal life and proclaimed that he shall remain forever as a
sixteen-year-old sage.
The assembly of Devas, who had witnessed all these,
begged Lord Shiva to revive Yama. Otherwise there will be a situation in the
world with people live long without death. This would put unnecessary burden on
the earth. Lord Shiva then revived Yama and declared that his devotees were
forever to be spared from the noose of Yama. Therefore, the fiery form of Lord Shiva
who appeared to save the sage Markandeya came to be called as Kalasamhara
Murti.
108
Shiva Temples of Kerala:
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Parasurama created
the land between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. Parasurama the sixth avatar
of Maha Vishnu, he was youngest son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka.
It is said that Kerala was reclaimed from the ocean using his axe for
donating to Brahmins after killing of King Kartavirya Arjuna and
other Kshatriyas. He split this land in to 64 villages (64 gramas). Out of
these 64 villages, 32 villages are in between Perumpuzha and Gokarnam and
the spoken language was Tulu.
The remaining 32 villages were in Malayalam speaking
area between Perumpuzha and Kanyakumari. According legends, after
donating the land to Brahmins108 Maha Shiva Lingam and Durga Idols were
installed in these 64 villages. These 108 Shiva Temples are mentioned in the
Shivala Stotram and song is written in Malayalam language. Of the 108
Siva Temples, 105 temples are situated in Kerala state, 2 temples in Karnataka and
1 in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.
Among these temples, the Lord Shiva of Gokarnam
Mahabaleswara Temple in the north and Goddess Kumari of Kanyakumari temple in
the south were considered as the protectors of Kerala. The first temple created
by Parasurama was the Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple and the last one was the
Thrikkariyoor Mahadeva Temple. This Temple is considered as one of the 108
Shiva Temples created by Lord Parasurama.
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