Bhoomeeshwarar Temple, Marakkanam – Legends

Bhoomeeshwarar Temple, Marakkanam – Legends

Bhoomeeshwarar:

Once upon a time there lived a Shiva devotee in Marakkanam. The Lord came in the form of a Sage to the devotee's house. The devotee wanted to provide food to the Sage. The Sage said that he wanted to Perform Shiva pooja in a Shiva temple and only then he would have food. Since there was no Shiva temple in that place the devotee took a 'Marakkal Padi' (a cylindrical vessel used for measuring grains) and turned it upside down, placed it on the ground and decorated it with flowers. The Sage (Shiva) performed Pooja and had food and left the place.

After the Sage departed, the devotee tried to move the vessel, but he could not. He brought some device to remove the Marakkal Padi, but it had disappeared. He came out of his house shouting Marakkal Kaanom (some people say that the name Marakkanam has derived from this dialogue) and he ran towards the sea in search of his vessel. Near the Bay of Bengal, he found a Shiva Linga which indicated him which was his vessel. Since, the Lingam was found from the earth, it came to be called as Bhoomeeshwarar. He started performing pooja to the Linga and later a big temple was built for this Linga by the Cholas.

Marakka Kaanom:

The myth goes that a devotee, on his way to Kasi on a pilgrimage, stayed in the area for a while. He placed a Marakka, a pot used to measure rice and grains, and prayed to it considering it Shiva. Over the years, the Marakka disappeared, some say stolen, while others claim it was buried. While digging up the place where it was known to stand, they discovered a lingam. The word Marakka Kaanom, which means the Marakka is missing, became ‘Marakkanam’.

Marakkanam:

Maram means Tree and Kaanam means Coastal Area in Tamil. Since the place had groves of trees near the coastal area, the place came to be called as Marakkanam.

Manalkanam:

Manal means Sand and Kaanam means Coastal Area in Tamil. Hence the place came to be called as Manalkanam and later got corrupted to Marakkanam.

Brahma Theertham:

It is believed that Brahma Theertham was created by Lord Brahma while he came here to worship Lord Shiva of this Temple.

People worshipped Lord Shiva here:

Sage Kanvar and Manmadha had worshipped Lord Shiva of this temple.