1. Nemam Iravatheeswaram

 

Nemam  over the Yugas

Nemam is a nondescript village in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu India on the southern bank of river Cauvery.  But it has its glory in all the four Yugas.  Known as Parijata Vanam in the Satya Yugam it was known as Brahmeswaram in Treta Yugam and Indrapuri in Dwapara Yugam.  In the present Kali Yugam it is glorified as Pushpa Vanam and Irawatheswaram.

Creation of Parijata Vanam

In the Satya Yugam, as per Vishnu Puranam, the Devas weakened by the curse of sage Durvasasa, invited the Asuras to help them recover the elixir of immortality, the amrita, from the depths of the cosmic milky ocean by churning it.  Mount Mandara—a spur of Mount Meru, the world axis—was torn out to use as a churning stick and was steadied at the bottom of the ocean by Vishnu in his avatar (incarnation) as   Kurma.  Vasuki, the great Naga   was used as the churning rope. As the churning progressed, a number of things from the Ocean of Milk were released. One of them was the lethal poison known as Halahala. The Devas approached Shiva for to save the three worlds from certain destruction from this poison.  Siva picked up the poison in has palms and put it in his mouth. Alarmed that if the poison descended to his stomach, still all the three worlds would be destroyed Parvati gripped His throat stopping the poison to flow down his throat.  As a result, his throat turned blue and he got referred to as Neelakantan. Finally, Dhanvantri, the heavenly physician, emerged with a pot containing the amrita, the heavenly nectar of immortality. Fierce fighting ensued between the Devas and the Asuras for it. To protect it from the Asuras, Garuda took the pot and flew away from the battlefield. A few drops from this pot fell at various places on earth. The Parijata Vanam emerged from one the drops fell on earth and Easan decided to make it as one of his abodes in Bhoolokam.

Emergence of Brahmeswaram

In Treta Yugam, Brahma became very vain that He was the greatest of all, being the Creator.  This started affecting His work seriously.    To subdue His vanity, Siva plucked one of His heads out of His original five and removed his power of creation. Brahma realised His folly and prayed to Sivan to restore His power of creation. Mahesan asked him to do penance on the banks of Cauvery. Brahma reached a spot and as directed by Rishi Kashyapar, moulded a Lingam out of sand from Cauvery and installed under a Parijata tree and did puja and penance. He was cured of the curse and regained his powers. As ordered by Brahma, Vishwakarma, the heavenly architect created a great temple for Mahesan with a Brahma Kundam in front and a Vishwakarma Thirtham on the southern side. This place got the name of Brahmeswaram and flourished as a great city.

Creation of   Indrapuri

In the Dwapara Yugam, a great Asura by the name of Vriddhan was terrorizing the Devas and put them in untold misery. The Pujas and yagams got stopped. The Devas approached Brahma and prayed to Him to help them destroy this demon. He gave His Brahmastram to Indiran and motivated them to fight the demon. Indra fought a fierce battle and killed Vriddhan. In the process, he got afflicted with Brahmahatti Dhosham. To get rid of it, he came to the bank of Cauvery and prayed to Easan with great devotion. He brought with him Amritam to perform Abhishekam for Easan. The place where he kept the Kalasam of Amritam came to be called as Sutha Koopam (well).  Pleased, Easan absolved him of his Dhosham. Since Indiran did puja and penance here, this place became popular as Indrapuri. Easan came to be called as Indrapuri vasan!

The legend behind Pushpa Vanam and Irawatheswaram

A long time ago in this kali Yugam, there was a congregation in Indira’s palace. There was performance of singing and dancing by the divine damsels.  While Ramba was performing, her upper garment got displaced due to a sudden gust of wind. Narada muni, who was in the audience got upset and cursed her to lose her residence in the Swargalokam.  When she pleaded that it was an inadvertent act, he guided her to do puja and penance for Mahesan to get rid of his curse as it could not be evoked.  She was guided by sage Durvasar when she descended to earth to reach this Kshetram on the banks of Cauvery do her penance.  When she was deeply engrossed in her meditation `on Easan, Indiran sent his royal elephant Iravatham to pick her up and bring her back to Indralokam forcibly. When Iravatham was trying to grab her, she caught the feet of Easan. Iravatham unable to lift her fell unconscious. Indiran coming to know of these events rushed here and composed forty five great names glorifying Easan and prayed for His pardon. Easan appeared along with His consort Alankara Nayaki, Vinayakar and Shanmukhar. Iravatham installed the Lingam and created this Kshetram as   Kandaa Moorthiswaram.   Later it became prominent as Irawatheswaram and Pushpa Vanam.

 Greatness of this Kshetram

 If someone stays here for a few days and prays to Easan, he is absolved of his sins and is granted peace and harmony in his life. Cauvery, Brahma Kundam, Vishwakarma Thirtham, Sutha Koopam are the sacred Thirthams. Taking a bath in these and worshipping Irawatheswarar, Alankarai Amman, Vinayakar and Murugan will bring prosperity. If one chants panchaksharam at any time of the day here even once he will rid of all difficulties and lead a peaceful life.      

(Source   Srimad Brahmanda Puranam) 

 

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