Draksharaman Bheemeshwara Swami Temple
Draksharaman Bheemeshwara Swami Temple
HISTORY OF TEMPLE
There goes an interesting legend behind
the existence of the Lord in this place. It is said that once a demon by
name Tarakasura was on penance to please Lord Shiva. The demon had a
boon given by Lord Brahma that he would be the most powerful of all and
that his death would be in the hands of a son born to Lord Shiva and
Goddess Parvati who should kill him on seventh day of his birth.
Over a period of time, Lord Shiva was
pleased with his devotion and appeared before him. Tarakasura desired
for a boon that he should have a Linga in his throat and that his life
should end only when the Linga is broken. As the Lord is always
benevolent towards his devotees, he blessed Tarakasura with his desire
and said that, it will be fulfilled once the churning of the ocean, for
the Amrutham (divine nectar) is completed.
In the due course, Tarakasura attained
his wish and became one of the powerful demons. He was very confident
that no one would dare break the Shiva Linga in his throat and thus
started troubling all the Saints and Gods by marring their peace.
Worried over the issue, all the Gods went to Lord Vishnu, who is said to
be the saviour. Lord Vishnu comforted them saying that the son of Lord
Shiva and Parvati would come to their rescue. Over a period of time, a
son was born to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati who was named as
Kartikeya. Then as predicted, on the seventh day, Kartikeya, along with
other Gods, went to fight the demon and kill him. A fierce battle
started between them and went on to the extent of the Gods withdrawing
out of fear of losing their lives.
It was then that Kartikeya prayed his
father Lord Shiva, for forgiveness as he was about to break the Shiva
Linga and threw his spear to hit the neck of Tarakasura. The Shiva Linga
broke into five pieces and fell at five different places -
Draksharamam, Kumararama, Ksheerarama, Bheemarama and Amararama. Hence,
Draksharamam is said to be the place where the first piece of Shiva
Linga fell. It is also said that the Linga was later installed by Veda
Vyasa.
Another tale goes that, Dakshudu (father
of Sati) was holding a Yagnam and did not invite his son-in-law, Lord
Shiva, and daughter, Sati. Sati repeatedly asked her husband, Lord
Shiva, if she can attend the Yagnam. Though He was not willing, Lord
Shiva hesitantly granted Her permission to attend the function. In the
function, She was not given the due respect by her father and even Her
husband was not honoured though He did not attend the function. Sati
could not bear the insult and burnt herself in the fire of the Yagnam.
When Lord Shiva came to know about this he became furious and thus
emerged as Lord Veerabhadra swami to destroy Dakshudu.
Unable to bear the separation with His
consort, Lord Shiva took the corpse of Sati and started His divine dance
'Pralaya Thandava'. It was then that Lord Vishnu sent His Sudharshana
Chakra to cut the body of Sati so that Lord Shiva would calm down from
His anger. This Chakra cut the body of Sati into eighteen pieces, each
of which fell in eighteen different places on the earth and came to be
known as "Astha Dasa Peetham". It is said that, one part (twelfth) came
and fell in Draksharamam, which is now in the form of Goddess Manikyamba
in the temple premises.
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