Lalithambigai temple at Thirumeyachur

[Padmanabhan.J]

Thirumeyachur Sri Lalithabhikai Temple




This place is about 20 kms from Mayavaram near Peralam on the Mayavaram Thiruvarur Road. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Meghanatha. The consort of Lord Meghanatha is Goddess Lalithambigai.

As per legend, Arunan the charioteer of Surya Bhagavan wanted to go to Kailasam to worship Lord Shiva. Surya Bhagavan did not allow him to go. Hence Arunan took the form of a girl and was on his way to Kailasam. On the way Surya saw this girl and outraged her modesty. Lord Shiva was very angry with Surya Bhagavan for such misbehaviour and cursed him to get darkened. The whole world plunged into darkness. A repentant Surya Bhagavan pleaded for mercy and as per His advice came to Thirumeiyachur and worshiped the Lord here. Surayan is believed to have worshiped Lord Shiva seated on an Elephant. To signify this you can see a Vimana (gajaprishta vimanam) in the temple resembling the back of an elephant. Even after severe penance, the Lord did not show mercy and Surya Bhagavan shouted in anguish. The Goddess was angered by this and almost cursed Surya Bhagavan, before being pacified by Lord Shiva. He said that the World was already plunged in darkness because Surya was dark and that he was only looking for relief. By His grace Surya Bhagavan attained papa vimochanam (absolution of sin).


7 am to 12 pm and 4.30 pm to 8 pm

The other temples nearby are Thilatharpanapuri, Saraswathy temple at Koothanur & Thirupampuram.





http://templesoftamilnadu.co.in/tag/thirumeeyachur-lalithambikai-temple/

[ahariram]

Re: Lalithambigai temple at Thirumeyachur

This is one of the best temples i have ever visited which has a lot of interesting stories. Whenever i go down south i make it a point to visit this temple. A Must see temple….
Few of the interesting things which i have noticed:
1) Meganathaswamy is worshipped by Surya Bhagavan directly - the sun rays at noon Chithrai maasam 21-26 (April to May) shall directly fall on Meganathaswamy, which is very rare.
2) History of the temple goes like this - Sage Kashyapa had 2 wives - they sought for progeny and prayed lord Shiva - Lord gave 2 eggs to both wives - one wife waited till the egg was broken (Garuda was born) and the other hastily broke the egg to see the child (Aruna - charioteer of sun, was born as a disfigured child). Surya bhagawan mocked at his figure and got curse from Lord Shiva to lose all his sheen, the whole world was at dark. Godess parvathy begged Lord to remove the curse. Surya bagawan placed Lord shiva and Parvathy on elephant back and worshipped to get back his shine. You can see the back of the vimanam as elephant back. Still the Lord was not happy - in an anguish surya bhagawan shouted at Lord stating his name Mihiraa – this time goddess got angry and was about to curse Surya bhagawan – foreseeing the impact by Lord Shiva came to the rescue and pacified goddess by touching her chin – This sculpture is truly amazing – half face of parvathy shall be smiling and when conjointly seen with the lord, the goddess face would be bit angry – amazing sculpture – The name of that is Skhethra puraneswarar. Sun was removed from the curse after penance.
3) This temple has Durgai with parrot – which is very rare to see – If we pray to Durgai the parrot shall be the messenger to Lalithambigai – even now we can see parrots flying from the moolasthanam to the mahadhvaram where Lalithambigai resides.
4) Lalithambika was dressed with all jewels as stated in Lalitha Sahasranama, one jewel, anklets at Her feet were absent. A devotee woman from Bangalore had a dream as if she was fixing the anklet to Mother. She was searching the temple and finally found this temple – askig if one anklet is without kolusu (Jewel) – the Priest said yes and said that there was not hole in it to put the same. The devotee pleaded to check if there is any hole – to his astonishment, there was a hole unnoticed, the women immediately offered the anklets to mother. Following this incident, now, devotees seeking wedding, child and education boons offer anklets to Mother Lalithambika.
5) Dreaded demon Pandasura was harassing sages and Devas. They surrendered at the feet of Mother Parasakthi for protection. Responding to their appeal, Devi rose from a Yaga Gunda, mounted on the Sri Chakra Rath with the name Lalithambika, waged the war against the demon and destroyed him. She was very furious then. Lord Shiva asked Mother to go to Earth, assume the name Manonmani and perform penance and shed her fury. Mother came to this place and became soft and merciful. She created Vak Devathas-deities ruling words- and asked them to sing Her praise with 1000 names. This became the holy Lalitha Sahasraname beginning with the words, Sri Mathre meaning “Mother of prosperity”.
6) Lord Hayagriva is the disciple of Mother Lalithambika. He taught the greatness of Lalitha Sahasranama to Sage Agasthya. Sage asked Hayagriva which was the suitable place to chant this great hymn. Lord said that the sage should visit a place on earth where Mother graces in the name of Manonmani. Sage, with his devout wife Lopamudra came to Tirumeeyachur and chanted Lalitha Sahasranama before Mother Lalithambika. Pleased with his devotion, Mother appeared before the sage and his wife in the form of Navaratnas-nine precious stones. Sage Agasthya worshipped Mother with his own hymn Lalitha Navaratna Mala.