Sivaratri means the night of Lord Siva. According to lunar calendar every month has a Sivaratri but the one in the waning period of the moon in the month of Magha is called Mahasivarathri! It is an all India festival There are celebrations galore in which devotees lose themselves in worship, meditation and celebration! Why is Mahasivarathri a special occasion? According to legend it is the day when the world, Devas and Asuras were saved by Lord Siva! When the ocean was churned by the Asuras and Devas with Mandhara mountain at the center and Vasuki the king of snakes as the rope, terrible all consuming poison came out first! Devas and Asuras ran helter skelter! None could save the situation! They prayed to Lord Siva who readily collected the poison into a ball and gulped it down! But it was stopped at the throat by Goddess Parvati! Hence Lord Siva is called ‘Nilakanta’ the one with blue throat! This incident is believed to have happened on the Sivaratri day! Another legend speaks about the attempt of Vishnu and Creator Brahma to find out the origin and end of the Linga! Both the Gods move in different directions but fail miserably! Vishnu owns defeat but Brahma lies for which he is cursed! It is because of this curse that Brahma has no separate temple for worship! The Jyotirlinga ( Fire) at Tiruvannamalai is said to be place of this incident!
The Nayanmars were those devotees of Lord Siva who lived, loved, ate and slept with their Lord! Theirs was utter surrender to the Lord! They detached themselves from all family attachments and fixed Him in their hearts! Gnanasambandar, Tirunilakantar, Tirunavukkarasar
and a host others are names to conjure with! They directly conversed with the Lord and many were the miracles that the Lord exhibited in their lives! On the eve of Mahasivarathri let us remember one such great Nayanar who was obsessed with offering fragrance dhoop to the Lord throughout his life! There lived a Brahmin in the village of Thirukkadavoor In the land of the Cholas. His name was Kalasa and soon after he came of age, he started worshipping Lord Siva in the Virattanam temple. He would offer fragrant dhoop daily to the Lord and hence was called Guggulukalasa Nayanar. He was so much obsessed with this worship and offering to the Lord that he spent all his money on it! Unwilling to stop the worship for want of money, he started selling his property one by one till all of them were sold and the money was utilized for the worship of his dear Lord Siva! His wife and children had to starve for five days when it became unbearable and she called the Nayanar, gave her mangalyam and asked him to get groceries by selling it. On his way to the market, the Nayanar met a merchant carrying a bag of fragrant dhoop! This tempted the Nayanar and he felt that it would be better to buy the fragrant dhoop than get the groceries! He gave away the gold mangalya and bought fragrance dhoop! He went directly to the temple for worship forgetting completely the purpose for which he had come!
Nayanar’s wife and children waited for him but in vain. It was evening and became dark soon. There was no sign of his return. It was now very late In the night. Disgusted, hungry and tired, she fell asleep. She had a dream in which Lord Siva appeared and said that he had granted them prosperity! She woke up and to her pleasant shock and surprise saw her home full of groceries like rice, dal, ghee and jaggery! Very happily she cooked food, fed her children and awaited her husband. Meanwhile Lord Siva directed Nayanar to go home and have his meal as he was hungry! Returning home, Nayanar was wonderstruck to see what has happened. His wife narrated to him of her dream and the miracle. Despite their great prosperity and riches, the couple served the devotees of Lord Siva wholeheartedly when a strange incident occurred!
The king of Tiruppanandal was very much worried of the Sivalingam in the temple which had tilted to a side! He wanted to remove the dilapidated temple and replace the lingam! He employed many brahmins to lift the Siva lingam! But however much they tried to lift the lingam it did not move or budge! Disappointed, the king brought elephants, tied a rope to the lingam and had it dragged by the pachyderm! Still the Sivalingam did not move! The king was dispirited and didn't know what to do! The news spread like wildfire and Nayanar came to know about it. He wanted to see this wonder personally. When he went there he was shocked to see the elephant and the brahmins had swooned and fallen on the ground!
He was in a dilemma! How is it that the Sivalingam is so stubborn? What is the secret about it? How can the elephant fail in lifting the Sivalingam? These thoughts flitted across his mind! Will it be possible for him to try? Yes, he decided to try! He had an upper cloth on his person and nothing else! Can this ordinary piece of clothing do what the brahmins and the elephant failed to do? He immediately tied his upper cloth to the Sivalingam and pulled it with all his might! And lo, behold! With a single pull the Sivalingam dislodged itself from its place and came out of its position! The king and the people were amazed at the ease with which the Nayanar could lift the
Sivalingam. They realized that the Nayanar had removed the Lingam through the rope of his intense bhakti or devotion! The king and the people praised and honored the Nayanar. Later with the help of Nayanar the Sivalingam was consecrated. Nayanar stayed there for some time and left for his home. Later Vagisa Nayanar, and Gnanasambanda Murthy Nayanar visited him! He received them warmly and offered his hospitality. After living righteously for long, Nayanar reached the feet of the Lord!
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