Chandikeshwara is a form of Lord Shiva. There are 63 Nayanmars who attained liberation through their devotion to Lord Shiva. Chandikeshwara is one of them. In south india in every Shiva temple there is a shrine of Chandikeshwara. He is considered as guardian of not only temple's wealth but also of Lord Shiva.
The legend of Chandikeshwara is as follows.
Chandikeshwara was a boy born to a Brahmin. As a child boy he used to be always in daydreams and worshiped Lord Shiva all the time. Every day he used to make a shiva lingam from sand and then worship it. Since his family did not support him and did not give him anything for his puja, he used to milk the cow and use that milk to perform abhisheka on lingam. One day when his father saw this he got raged and kicked lingam made by the boy. Boy was interrupted in meditation and when he realized that his father has destroyed the lingam that he made, he became furious and cut his father's leg with axe. His mother came rushing to the incident. Boy was emanating so much anger that she could not even recognize him. She prayed to Lord Shiva to save her family. At that time Lord Shiva appeared at the incident. Pleased by boy's devotion to him Lord Shiva restored leg of boy's father and permanently employed Chandikeshwara as a guard not only of him but also his wealth. From that time in all Shiva temples there is always a shrine of Chandikeshwara. Chandikeshwara guards not only Lord Shiva but also all wealth of the temple. It is a custom that after taking darshan of Lord Shiva and other deities, at the end devotees take darshan of Chandikeshwara and clap or scrub their hands in front of him to indicate that they are not taking anything from temple except prasadam.
The legend of Chandikeshwara is as follows.
Chandikeshwara was a boy born to a Brahmin. As a child boy he used to be always in daydreams and worshiped Lord Shiva all the time. Every day he used to make a shiva lingam from sand and then worship it. Since his family did not support him and did not give him anything for his puja, he used to milk the cow and use that milk to perform abhisheka on lingam. One day when his father saw this he got raged and kicked lingam made by the boy. Boy was interrupted in meditation and when he realized that his father has destroyed the lingam that he made, he became furious and cut his father's leg with axe. His mother came rushing to the incident. Boy was emanating so much anger that she could not even recognize him. She prayed to Lord Shiva to save her family. At that time Lord Shiva appeared at the incident. Pleased by boy's devotion to him Lord Shiva restored leg of boy's father and permanently employed Chandikeshwara as a guard not only of him but also his wealth. From that time in all Shiva temples there is always a shrine of Chandikeshwara. Chandikeshwara guards not only Lord Shiva but also all wealth of the temple. It is a custom that after taking darshan of Lord Shiva and other deities, at the end devotees take darshan of Chandikeshwara and clap or scrub their hands in front of him to indicate that they are not taking anything from temple except prasadam.
