TIRUCHENDUR

Tiruchendur or Thirucheer alai vai

Marupadu soorarai vadaitha mugam ondre

Salutations to the face that annihilatesthe differing personalities called asuras

Lord Skanda took the Vel fromHis mother Goddess Durga and led the army of the Devas into battle againstSoorapadman and his brothers who were tormenting the three worlds havingoutclassed the devas in battle. On His way the Lord was confronted by a demoncalled Krauncha who was cursed to take the form of a mountain, but yet trappedpassers by in his fold and gobbled them up. As he tried his pranks on youngSubrahmanya, the boy playfully threw the Vel and it shattered to a thousandpieces the rocky demon.  The Lord pitchedcamp in Thiru Chendur on the east coast of south India and challengedTarakasura the youngest of the three brothers. Taraka came with a huge army toattack Skanda and the devas but Kumara’s Vel consumed the army of the demonsand in a trifle annihilated the demon Tarakasura. 

Soorapadman, after defeatingthe devas did not occupy the throne of Devendra and make Alakapuri as hiscapital for the simple reason that Indira’s dominion will change wheneveranother Indira emerges by performing the requisite yagnyas. He thereforecreated his own city par excellence called Maha Indra Puri (Mahendrapuri) whichwas full of magic. Skanda led the army of devas to the gates of Mahendrapuriand sent Veerabahu, his trusted lieutenant to counsel the demon to return tothe Devas whatever had been usurped from them or meet their end in the battlefield.  Soorapadman laughed at thesuggestion, and expressed surprise at the fact that a mere child had come tochallenge him, forgetting for a moment that the boy was Shiva Kumara andaccording to the boon he had got from Brahma, he had chosen to be conqueredonly by the son of Lord Shiva.

In the battle that followed,there were huge losses on both sides as the armies of the devas and the asurasfought valiantly and without any let up. Banugopa, the son of Soorapadma was killed by Veerabahu and Ajamuki alsomet a similar fate from him.  Simhamukafought with great force, but was no match for Skanda and felled to theVel.  Soorapadma was distraught at the deathof his beloved brother and came on to take Kumara in single combat. All theastras (weapons) used by the Asura against Skanda were futile.  When the demon launched the Maha PasupathaAstra against Kumara, the three worlds trembled, but Siva Kumara caught theastra with one hand and laid it aside. The dumbfounded asura vanished from thebattle field and returned the following morning with his army regrouped. He sawSkanda in His Virat form and went down on his knees to worship him. But thiswas momentary as Skanda resumed his original form of a boy and the demonmounted his magic chariot to fight his adversary. Skanda took away the magicchariot of Soorapadma and showered a volley of arrows on the Asura who againdid the vanishing act and appeared as a huge bird. Skanda blessed Indira tobecome a peacock and mounted the huge bird and clipped the wings of Soorapadma.The relentless demon came back as a lion and an elephant which were speared bythe Vel and finally came as a huge tree to crush Karthigeya.  Out went the spear Vel from the hands of SivaKumara and cleft the tree into two, one portion of which became the cock andthe other the peacock which the Lord took as His banner and mount.

With the annihilation of thedemons peace returned to the three worlds and devas regained their luster andDevendra his throne. The good and evil tendencies within us are constantly atwar with each other vying for supremacy. When we give up our austerities andallow desires to take over, we are pushed into an abyss, but when our times aregood and we realize our folly and turn to God to rescue us, He appears as thelight to show us the way. He dons the mantle of the Guru (Gu-darkness Ru-light)and takes us through the dark passages of the life dominated by tamasic andasuric tendencies as we have to experience these tendencies as part of our karmaanubhava and cannot avoid it. We can definitely avoid the pitfalls if we haveGod as our guide.  The Devas prayed toLord Shiva for such a guide and Shiva Himself manifested as the six sparks ofwisdom which combined to form Guru Guha and sent Him to lead the devas intobattle with the asuric forces. Tarakasura represents the thought of me and mine (Madham) which like anelephant trounces all that comes in its way, thinking only about itself,oblivious to the fact that it might itself fall one day. When the gnana Veltouched him, Taraka was no match and hence surrendered to the might of the Vel.When our alter ego gets a beating we come down to reality.

Simha mukha is the embodimentof lust and anger (Kama and Krodha) and again he is destroyed by true knowledge(gnanam) represented by the Vel. Ajamukhi is the tendency to stick to ones own beliefs and dogmas likethe goat which always follows the clan wherever they go. Unless we getourselves free from the shackles of beliefs and dogmas we will never be able togo beyond our conditioned mind which is the greatest obstacle in selfrealization. We need to have no conditions in our spiritual pursuit and shouldcultivate the mind to accept whatever comes our way as the present of God, inother words, to live every moment in the present.

The final obstacle in thepath is of course EGO. Even when we get rid of all our bad qualities and becomevirtuous, ego takes pride in it and this would send us back in our path. It iswell nigh impossible to drop ego and live without a trace of it. Here we reallyrequire the grace of God to cut off the final chord that binds us to the cycleof innumerable birth and death. While there are many paths to release ourselvesfrom this bondage, it is ultimately true knowledge or gnana that can fullyliberate us. Karma yoga leads to Bhakti yoga which ultimately leads to gnanayoga which alone can burn away our ego. The spear or the Vel in the hands ofthe Lord represents knowledge and single pointed unwavering concentration(ekagra chitta) on the ultimate goal. The shape of the Vel is like a leaf standing firmly on a long rod withits tip tapering off to a sharp point. The rod represents our faith which should be firm and steady. Theportion above that which looks like the leaf of the Arasa tree (Sacred fig alsocalled as Bodhi tree) is our spiritual practices represented by Karma yoga onone side and Bhakti yoga on the other. The tapering point is Gnana Yoga which cleaves its way into the darknessfelling the demonic traits in us and ultimately destroys the ego which is theumbilical chord that binds us to the cycle of birth and death.  Soorapadman prostrated before the Lord whenhe saw His virat rupam, but his natural tendency did not allow him to retainthe vision and hence when he saw it was only the small child Murugan, his egogot better of him and he continued to battle him.  It is necessary for us, therefore, to clutchand hold on to the vision of the divine when and if it becomes manifest so thatwe do not slide back to our nefarious ways once the vision disappears.

Unlike the annihilation ofother demons like Shumba and Nishumba, Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakasipu, Ravana andthe like where the demons were killed, Soorapadman when he was split into twoby the Vel became the cock and the peacock which in turn became the banner andvehicle to the Lord.  The basic physicsteaches that in this universe matter is neither created nor destroyed, but onlychanges. In the death is another birth and in birth there is death. The waterin the sea changes into vapour, only to cool and return as water. In the deathof a demon, the physical body falls, but the evil might live on and take birthagain and again in different forms and names. The Lord Shanmugha was very kindto change the evil in Soorapadma to good and accept him as his banner andmount.

The Cock represents Sound andthe Peacock the Light in the beauty of creation. The banner is carried in frontof the procession and this gives an indication to the onlooker on who iscoming.  The Cock gives the clarion callto us to awaken from our deep slumber enmeshed in Tamo guna and heralds thearrival of the Lord who rides the beautiful Peacock.

The Peacock is a bird withoutparallel. Although it cannot fly high or long distances, its very gait ischarming and its dance exquisite. It represents strength and victory over evilforces. The splash of colours in its tail unfolded when it dances makes themind happy. The peacock therefore represents all that is bright and spectacularin God’s creation, in other words, Nature in its full glory. This is calledPrakriti or bojyam that which is created to be enjoyed and the Purusha, theSupreme Being is the bhokta or enjoyer. We are all part and parcel of thisdivine drama and it is the ONE which has split itself into many for thispurpose.

The Peacock holds firmly inits feet a snake with the risen hood and another in its beak. Some interpretthis as the evil tendencies in us which are held in check by the Lord’s mountin order to help His devotees. Another explanation is that these two snakesrepresent the Ida and Pingala nadis that intertwine the ramrod like Sushumnanadi meeting at the three granthis (knots). When Kundalini raises, it should bechannelized only through the Sushumna and not through Ida or Pingala becausethen there would be severe imbalance in the flow of energy and it wouldpermanently impair the physical and physiological bodies of the sadhaka.  That is the reason that such practices areconfined to a few who do it under the watchful eyes of the Guru. We find todaymany advertisements that seek to bestow this immeasurable knowledge onunsuspecting people for a paltry fees. Suffice to add here that the celestialmount of Lord Shanmuka keeps in check the Ida and Pingala nadis and allows theprimordial energy to raise only through the Sushumna nadi represented by theVel. When the energy rises thus and flows into the Sahasrara and back again, itfills the other two nadis which in turn carries the energy to the other partsof the physical and subtle body thereby fulfilling its task.

Tiruchendur represents theVishuddhi chakra, the fifth chakra, which can be attained after crossing onemore granthi (knot), the Rudra Granthi. Rudra is the Lord of dissolution andone has to cross the illusion of birth and death to reach the stage ofimmortality. Vi – Shuddhi means the highest form of purification which happensin the throat chakra.  We are familiarwith the narration of how Lord Shiva swallowed the terrible Hala Hala poison tosave the universe and Devi Uma stopped the poison in the throat region of theLord which became blue, giving the Lord the name Neela Kanta. The poison HalaHala was neutralized by the Lord in the throat region and hence this chakra iscalled Vishuddhi. Once we pass through the Rudra granthi all our vasanas areleft behind and so are our emotions. From here it is a passage through thesublime realms of spiritualism where we come face to face with various siddhisand riddhis which we need to transcend to see our TRUE SELF.

Speech is called Vak. Thereare four components that go to make the thought become words and thenspeech.  The vibrations that start in theabdomen (nabhi) is called ‘Para’ or indiscernible power. When this vibrationmoves up to the heart region it becomes ‘Pasyanti’ or perceptible as it merges withthought and takes shape. Further up, it is called ‘Madhyama’ when it reachesthe region of the vocal chords and makes them vibrate and finally it is called ‘Vaikari’or ‘Vak’ when it flows out of the mouth with the action of the tongue as words.It is in the Vishuddhi chakra that the thoughts crystalise and become thespoken word through the vibration of the vocal chords. When Thought, Words andAction match one another then we infer that it is Truth. When there is anydistortion of what is thought and said and done, then there is no truth. As weutter words which are not truthful, the Vishuddhi chakra tries to stop thisdisharmony and this has an effect on the five sense organs which reveal to the factto the onlooker. If we learn to control our speech and speak only what istruthful then we will not hinder the working of the Vishuddhi chakra which willthen allow us to progress further. Skanda in the Vishuddhi chakra is ‘Vak’. The deaf and dumb child Kumara gurupara was blessed with the power ofspeech and the ability to create poetry by the Lord and he instantly composedhymns in praise of the Lord. We should pray to Vageeswara to bless us with suddhaVak (truthful speech).

In Tiruchendur the Andavan(God) stands alone with the Vel and Kodi (banner) in His arms. Just behind thesanctum sanctorum there is a chamber where five Shiva Linga murthis are housed.These are the murthis worshipped by Lord Skanda after destruction ofSoorapadman and his clan to rid Himself of the Brahmahathi dosha of killing thedemons who hailed from the lineage of Brahmins. The sea here is calm and serenewith the waves rocking against the outer wall of the temple rhythmically andhence the place is called Seer Alai vai the place where the waves play to arhythm, the rhythm of the primordial sound OM. Tiruchendur is also consideredto be one of the Navagraha kshetras dedicated to Brihaspathi or Guru. The LordHimself is called Kumara Guru Para or the supreme preceptor in the form of ayoung boy. Any defects in the horoscope of a person pertaining to the planetJupiter will vanish when one comes here, takes a bath in the sea and a sweetwater spring called Nazhi kinaru which is on the sea shore and worships theGod. Worshipping the Lord here along with Lord Ganapathi and Shakti and thefive Shiva murthis is believed to shower the grace of the Lord for a long andpeaceful life on earth and thence eternally in the abode of Skanda.