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Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple

Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple

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Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple (Tamil: நயினாதீவு நாகபூசணி அம்மன் கோயில்) is an ancient and historic Hindu temple located amidst the Palk Strait on the island of Nainativu, Sri Lanka. It is dedicated to Parvati who is known as Nagapooshani or Bhuvaneswari and her consort, Shiva who is named here as Nayinaar. The temple's fame is accredited to Adi Shankaracharya, a 9th-century Hindu philosopher, for identifying it as one of the prominent 64 Shakti Peethams in Shakti Peetha Stotram and its mention in the Brahmanda Purana. The temple complex houses four gopurams (gateway towers) ranging from 20–25 feet in height, to the tallest being the eastern Raja Raja Gopuram soaring at 108 feet high. The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, such as Manimekalai and Kundalakesi. The present structure was built during 1720 to 1790 after the ancient structure was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1620. The temple attracts around 1000 visitors a day, and approximately 5000 visitors during festivals. The annual 16 day Mahostavam (Thiruvizha) festival celebrated during the Tamil month of Aani (June/July) - attracts over 100,000 pilgrims. There is an estimated 10,000 sculptures in this newly renovated temple.


Mythology,

Legend,

The Nagapooshani Amman Temple is believed to be originally established by Lord Indra while seeking alleviation from the curse of Gautama Maharishi. The Sanskrit epic Mahabharata records that Lord Indra was overcome by his sexual desires for Ahalya, the wife of Gautama Maharishi. Indra disguised himself as the saint and proceeded to seduce and make love to Ahalya. When the saint came to know, he cursed Indra to have a thousand marks resembling the yoni (female reproductive organ) all over his body. Indra was ridiculed and referred to as Sa-yoni. Unable to face the humiliation, he went into exile to the island of Manidweepa (Nainativu). There, he is believed to have created, consecrated and worshipped the moolasthana murti of the Goddess to atone for his sins. The Queen of the Universe, Bhuvaneswari Amman, satisfied with Indra's utmost devotion, repentance and remorse appeared before him and transformed they yonis on his body into eyes. She then took on the name of "Indrakshi" (Indra Eyed). Another legend states that, many centuries later, a cobra (Nagam) was swimming across the sea towards Nainativu from the nearby island of Puliyantivu with a lotus flower in its mouth, for the worship of Bhuvaneswari Amman (who had already been consecrated by Indra). An eagle (Garuda) spotted the cobra and attempted to attack it and kill it. Fearing harm from the eagle, the cobra wound itself around a rock (referred to in Tamil as; Paambu Sutriya Kal “the Rock around which the Snake wound itself”) in the sea about half a kilometer from the Nainativu coast, and the eagle stood on another rock (Garudan Kal “the Rock of the Eagle”) some distance away. A merchant by the name of Maanikan from the Chola kingdom; who was himself a devotee of Sri Bhuvaneswari Amman, was sailing across the Palk Strait to trade with the ancient Naka Nadu noticed the eagle and the cobra perched upon said rocks. He pleaded with the eagle to let the cobra go on its way without any harm. The eagle agreed with one condition that the merchant should construct a beautiful temple for Sri Bhuvaneswari Amman on the island of Nainativu and that he shall propagate her worship in the form of Sri Nagapooshani Amman for universal peace, prosperity and humanity. He agreed and built a beautiful temple accordingly. The eagle took three dips into the ocean to atone for its sins against the Nagas in the Mahabharata, and hence, the Garuda and Naga resolved their longstanding feuds.


Shakti Peetham,

The Shakti Peethas (Sanskrit: शक्ति पीठ, Tamil: சக்தி பீடம்) are places of worship consecrated to the Goddess Shakti, Parvati, Dakshayani, or Durga, the female principal of Hinduism and the main deity of the Shakta sect. They are sprinkled throughout the Indian subcontinent. Shakti is the goddess of power and is the complete incarnation of Adi Parashakti. The Brahmanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, mentions the 64 Shakti Peethas of Goddess Parvati in the Indian subcontinent including present day India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Another text which gives a listing of these shrines, is the Shakti Peetha Stotram, written by Adi Shankara, the 9th century Vedic philosopher.


She has three chief manifestations;

1. Durga - goddess of strength and valour,

2. Mahakali - goddess of destruction of evil, and

3. Tripura Sundari - goddess of benevolence.


Sometime after Lord Brahma commenced the process of creating the universe, he grew weak due to the sheer task before him. He sought the help of Lord Shiva and offered a yagya (fire ritual) to please the supreme divinity. Lord Shiva pleased with his offerings, appeared before him and sacrificed his shakti (energy) to assist Lord Brahma in the task of completing the creation of the universe. Lord Brahma thankful for the compassion Lord Shiva bestowed upon him, vowed that one day his shakti would be given back to him. Therefore, Dakshin (son of Brahma) performed several yagyas to obtain Shiva's shakti as his daughter in the form of Dakshayani. It was then decided that Dakshayani would be brought into the material world with the purpose of getting married to Shiva.


In bidding the Goddess to take human birth, Brahma's design was that she should please Shiva with humble devotions and wed him. It was natural that Dakshayani, even as a child, adored the tales and legends associated with Shiva and grew up an ardent devotee. As Dakshayani grew to womanhood, the idea of marrying anyone else, as intended by her father, became anathema to her. Every proposal from valiant and rich kings made her crave evermore the ascetic of Kailasa, the God of Gods, who bestowed all on this world and himself foreswore all. Dakshin acts, both justified and unjustified, to wean Dakshayani away from Lord Shiva, to protect his egoistic stand that Lord Shiva doesn't confirm to the "worldly" principles that he is so fond of. However, Dakshayani just cannot forget Lord Shiva nor can she live without him.


To win the regard of the ascetic Shiva, Dakshayani forsook the luxuries of her father's palace and retired to a forest, there to devote herself to austerities and the worship of Shiva. So rigorous were her penances that she gradually renounced food itself, at one stage subsisting on one bilva leaf a day, and then giving up even that nourishment; this particular abstinence earned her the sobriquet Aparnā. Her prayers finally bore fruit when, after testing her resolve, Shiva finally acceded to her wishes and consented to make her his bride.


An ecstatic Dakshayani returned to her father's home to await her bridegroom, but found her father less than elated by the turn of events. The wedding was however held in due course, and Dakshayani (henceforth called Gauri) made her home with Shiva in Kailasa. Dakshin, depicted in legend as an arrogant king, did not get on with his renunciative son-in-law and cut his daughter away from her natal family.


Dakshin's arrogance,

Hence one day, in Satya Yuga, Dakshin performed a grand yagna with a desire to take revenge on Lord Shiva. Dakshin was angry because his daughter Dakshayani also known as Sati had married the "yogi" Lord Shiva against his wish. Dakshin invited all the deities to the yagna except for Shiva and Gauri. The fact that she was not invited did not deter Gauri from attending the yagna. Wanting to visit her parents, relatives and childhood friends, Gauri sought to rationalize this omission. She reasoned within herself that her parents had neglected to make a formal invitation to them only because, as family, such formality was unnecessary; certainly, she needed no invitation to visit her own mother and would go anyway. She had expressed her desire to attend to Shiva who had tried his best to dissuade her from going. Shiva eventually allowed her to go escorted by ganas and bid her provoke no incident.


Self-immolation

Gauri was received coldly by her father. Gauri, being an uninvited guest, was not given any respect. Furthermore, Dakshin began to insult Shiva. Gauri was unable to bear her father's insults toward her husband, had a heated argument about the virtues (and alleged lack thereof) of Shiva. Every passing moment made it clearer to Gauri that her father was entirely incapable of appreciating the many excellent qualities of her husband - the supreme divinity of the universe. The realization then came to Gauri that this abuse was being heaped on Shiva only because he had wed her; she was the cause of this dishonour to her husband. She was consumed by rage against her father and loathing for his mentality. Calling up a prayer that she may, in a future birth, be born the daughter of a father whom she could respect, Gauri invoked her yogic powers and immolated herself.


Read more, 

WiKipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nainativu_Nagapooshani_Amman_Temple