Temples In India-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKATEMPLE INDIAthis legendary story thatgave the place the name,Nagapattinam. In thistemple, there is an idol ofgoddess Neelaya-thakshiwhich is said to have beenbrought from the region ofthe Nile river in Egypt.GODDESSKANYAKUMARINagercoil. The township named as Nagercoil(meaning, Temple of the Serpent) itself isindicative of the popularity of the templethere. Nagercoil is situated at a distanceof about twelve miles from Kanyakumari.It is said that there are many serpentsliving around the temple. Strangely enough,within a radius of one mile from the templethere has not been any fatal case ofsnakebite. Every visitor to the temple takesa pinch of earth from the temple as theprasad. It is said that still the earth in thatplace has never diminished in quantity. Nearthe shrine of the serpent-god, there arealso temples enshrining Lord Krishna andLord Shiva.While talking of Nagercoil, one might-bereminded of another temple atNagapattinam near Tanjore. Though thetemple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and isconsidered to be one of the one hundredand eight sacred places of Vaishnavites,the place acquired sanctity when theSerpent-God, that is, Nagaraja, didpenance there to propitiate the lord. It isThere was a virgin by namePushpakasi. She was verymuch devoted to Lord Siva and by her sternpenance attained Sayujya Moksha. SayujyaMoksha means entering Heaven with humanbody and remaining in human form with theSupreme Lord.Bana the Asura had won a boon that hecould not be killed by anyone other than aKannika (virgin). It became a problem howto arrest his depredations and savemankind. People approached Lord Siva forredress. Lord Siva knew that this Banasuracould be killed only by a virgin. Immediatelyhe chose Pushpakasi for the task and senther back to earth. She killed the demonand restored peace in the land. She didnot like to stay on earth after fulfilling hermission and so made further penancepraying to Siva to call her back to Heaven.Parasurama, who happened to note theaustere penance in which this virgin wasengaged, installed her image together witha Vinayaka, in the firm belief that she alonecould save the land, which had beenreclaimed from the sea, from being15