Anantheshwara Temple, Udupi –
Legends
Anantheshwara:
As per legend, Kartavirya Arjuna,
the king of Heheya Kingdom along with his army visited the ashram of Sage Jamadagni.
The sage fed the hungry king and his entire army with offerings from his divine
cow Kamadhenu. Seeing the divine power of the cow, the king demanded the
cow for the betterment of his subjects. Sage Jamadagni refused because he
needed the cow for his religious ceremonies. King Arjuna sent his soldiers to
take the cow by force. In the ensuing conflict, Kartavirya Arjuna chopped off the head of
Jamadagni.
When Parashurama, son of
Sage Jamadagni and one of the Dasavatharas of Vishnu, returned
to the hermitage and found his father dead. His mother informed him about the
atrocities committed by Kartavirya Arjuna. In revenge, Parashurama killed the
entire clan of Kartavirya Arjuna with a battle axe given to him
by Lord. Shiva. He eventually killed all kshatriyas barring the Ikshvaku
dynasty, thus conquering the entire earth. He enacted this wholesale
eradication of the kshatriyas for 21 generations. After the annihilation of kshatriyas,
he performed a great Yagna.
He donated all the land he won
and left with no land for himself. He reclaimed a strip of land from Arabian
sea by throwing his battle axe. This reclaimed land from the sea came to be
called as Parashurama Kshetra which extends from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. Ramabhoja,
an ardent devotee of Lord Parashurama was proclaimed the king of Parashurama
Kshetra. Once, Ramabhoja wished to perform a Yajna. He selected a place and
ordered the site to be ploughed up for sacrificial fire. During the ploughing,
a snake was killed accidently. The king was worried as it was a sin to kill a
serpent.
He prayed to Lord Parasurama for
relief. Lord Parasurama directed him to build a big silver pedestal (Rajatha
Peetha) with the image of a serpent at each of its four corners and to worship him
who would be seated in spirit on the pedestal. He further instructed him to distribute
gold equal to his own weight (Thulabhara) to the deserving persons. As
instructed, the king did and got relief from the sin. Also, he performed the
Yagna successfully. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Parasurama appeared and
declared that the sacrificial land, Rajatha Peetha (silver pedestal) would
become a famous centre of pilgrimage.
The place came to be called as Rajatha Peetha Pura. This land also came to be called as Thuluva land as Ramabhoja
performed Thulabhara. The king Ramabhoja also built four Durga temples and
Subramanya temples one each in each direction. Later, Lord Shiva appeared in
the form of Linga and occupied the silver pedestal. It is also said that Lord
Parashurama was requested by Lord Shiva to be enshrined within the Linga in the
form Lord Anantha. Thus, Lord Shiva came to be called as Anantheshwara.
Madhvacharya:
Madhvacharya (also known
as Purna Prajna and Ananda Tirtha) was an Indian philosopher,
theologian and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta.
Madhava called his philosophy Tattvavada meaning arguments from a realist
viewpoint. Madhvacharya is said to have obtained his lessons from his Guru Achyuthaprekshacharya,
of the Ekadandi order in this temple.
It is also said that Madhvacharya
taught the holy scriptures to his disciples on the premises of this temple.
There is a granite slab on which Acharya Madhwa sat while teaching his students
in this temple. This slab is under under
worship even today. There is no idol in the slab. It is believed that Madhvacharya
is present in the slab in invisible form.
Ananthapadmanaba:
As per legend, the father of Madhvacharya
served as priest in this temple. When he shifted to the holy Pajaka kshetra, he
carried a replica of an idol of Ananthapadmanaba idol with him and installed it
in Pajaka. It is said that the idol is still in worship. Madhwa Vijaya states
that Madhvacharya was born to them as a reward of their unwavering devotion to
Lord Vishnu.
No comments:
Post a Comment