Kshetra Puran of Sapta Vidanga Sthalam

Kshetra puranas, also known as sthala puranas, are stories associated with a particular place i.e. kshetra. These stories are considered puranas as they are as authentic as main puranas in conveying dharmic principles. 

Sapta Vidanga sthalams also have kshetra purana associated with them. We covered kshetra purana in previous article. In this article we are covering it again to bring out its significance.

Once Lord Vishnu was asked to perform worship to obtain the male child. To perform worship, Lord Vishnu asked sculptor Vishwakarma to make an idol in which Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were seated with their son Skanda (Muruga) in between them. This is known as Somaskanda murti i.e. Sa (means shiva), Uma (means chit) and Skanda (means anand) murti. Meaning it is Sat-chit-ananda murti.

Pleased by the penance undertaken by Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva granted him a boon of a male child. The male child was none other than Manmada. Later on Lord Brahma got the Somaskanda moorthy along with Vidanga from Lord Vishnu who in turn gave it to Lord Indra.

At other time, a demon named Vallan (Vaalasur) invaded the Indrapuri (heaven). Indra sought the help of Lord Shiva to defeat the demon. 

Indra was directed by Lord Shiva to seek the help of King Muchukunda. King Muchukunda was a male monkey in the previous birth. He was born with a monkey face due to the grace of Lord Shiva. He ruled the Chola kingdom with Karuvarai as his capital.

Muchukunda defeated the demon and saved the Lord Indra. As a token of gratitude Lord Indra asked Muchukunda to take anything that he wanted from him. Lord Shiva conveyed secretly to Muchukunda to ask for Somaskanda murti which was in the possession of Lord Indra. Lord Indra was not ready to part with the idol and he prepared six more similar idols and asked the king to choose one from seven. Lord Shiva indicated to the king the real Somaskanda murti. Lord Indra had no other alternative but to part with original hence he gave all seven to the king. King Muchukunda took all the seven vidanga and placed them at seven places. All these lingas are only handful in size. The term vidanga represents the image of Lord Shiva as Thyagaraja. It is maragada (emerald) linga. And is placed generally in silver casket. Thyagaraja is taken in procession in the palanquin with the people performing special dance steps. Every vidanga is associated with special type of steps during the dance.

In upcoming articles we will attempt to provide introduction to each of the seven temples of Sapta Vidanga Sthalam.

Courtesy: 

https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/ 

https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/