Essay name: Sucindrasthala-mahatmya (critical edition and study)
Author:
Anand Dilip Raj
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Department of Sanskrit
The essay studies in English the Sucindrasthala-mahatmya which represents a significant Sthalamahatmya from South India detailing the origins and development of the Trimurti temple at Suchindram in Tamil Nadu. The study reveals its legends, customs, and religious practices.
Chapter 3 - Suchindram temple and other places and rivers mentioned
45 (of 53)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
is the Visnu as चतुर्बाह� [ٳܰ ] with शङ्ख, चक्र, गद�, पद्म [śaṅkha, cakra, gadā, padma ] also considered as Srikrishna. It is popularly known as Guruvayurappan in Malayalam. मूल्यविग्र� [ūⲹ ] is made by the पातालाज्ञनशिला [ñԲś ] and hence considered to have medicinal qualities. The sthalapurana of this place ie, Tyqfight is said to be a part of Naradapurana. According to the story, ther idol of Guruvayurappan is given to a prajapati by Brahma. Sutapas gave the same to and Kasyapa give to Vasudeva, father of Srikrishna. When Srikrishna became the king of Madhura he got the idol from his father. When the द्वारक [屹첹 ] sunk in the ocean by महाप्रलय, [ⲹ, ] Krishna asked उद्ध� [uddhava ] the pious follower of him to keep that idol for the prosperity of the world. Uddava gave that idol to Brahaspati, the Devaguru. Brhaspati and his disciple the Vayudeva wandered all over the world to find a suitable place to enshrine the idol. Then they saw Rudra who was doing ч. He showed the nearby place Rudra teerta. Guru and Vayu asked the Visvakarma to built a new temple near the Tirtha. They enshrined the idol of Mahavisnu in the temple hence the place got the name Guruvayur.36 There are so many legends associated with Guruvayur temple. Legend of जनमेजय, [janamejaya, ] son of परिक्षित�, [貹ṣi, ] who conducted सर्पसत्र [sarpasatra ] was caught by leprosy. On the advise of son of Atri, went to Guruvayoor and prayed to the Lord and got rid of his disease. It is believed that a Pandian king got his life back even though he was bitten by a snake, due to his Bhakti on Guruvayurappan. Melpathur Narayana Bhatta, the famous of scholar of 16th century A.D, by writing the famous Narayaneeyam, in praise of Lord 116
