Nemam
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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