Puttur Sri Mahalingeshwar Temple
Puttur Sri Mahalingeshwara Temple
is a 12th-century temple, located in Puttur. Lord Shiva is the main deity. The
temple witnesses a utsav during this auspicious day in which a large number of
devotees gather to celebrate the event.
Legend
The most common story for the
creation of the temple is that in the past, three old and learned Smartha-cult
Sthanika Brahmins were travelling through southern India, Worshipping a Shiva
Linga that they got from the Hindu holy ‘Kshetra of Kashi’. The three were
ardent devotees of Shiva. One day they arrived at a place called ‘Gayapada
Kshetra’ now known as Uppinangady in Puttur Taluk.
At Uppinangady, one of the three
decided to move towards Puttur leaving behind the other two. He reached Puttur
one evening, carrying the ‘Shiva Ling’ with him. He got up early the next
morning and after a holy bath went to the palace of the Banga King to collect
flowers and other essential pooja materials for the worship of Shiva. That day
was a Monday, which was considered auspicious for the worship of Lord Shiva. At
that time the Banga King did not pay attention to the arrival of this Brahmin,
as he was much worried about the labor-pain of his loving sister.
However, the minister of the
Banga-King, looking at the Divine Brightness in the face of the Brahmin, made
an appeal regarding the King's problem. The Brahmin worshipped the Linga and
blessed the King's sister assuring him that she would safely deliver a baby
boy. Later to the astonishment of all, she gave birth to a boy child. The King
felt happy over the event and thanked the Brahmin and arranged for the worship
of the Lord.
Later on that particular day, the
Brahmin, knowingly or otherwise, kept the Shiva-Linga on the ground without a
stand or seat and worshiped it. After the pooja, he lifted the Linga from the
ground, in order to keep it again in the container box (samputa), but it could
not be lifted from the ground. The Brahmin used all his force to lift the
Linga, but all efforts were in vain. The linga remained in place.
The King's army men applied force
unsuccessfully. The King's elephant was summoned to lift the linga. As the
elephant struggled, the linga grew to huge size and became Mahalinga,
shattering the elephant into pieces. The animals' body parts spread out in
different directions.
The place where its horn (Khombu) fell came to be called ‘Kombettu’, Kari fell ‘Kariyala, legs fell (kalu) ‘Karjala’, hand(Kai) fell ‘Kaipala’ tail fell ‘Beedimajalu’, head(Tale) fell ‘Taleppady’ and back (Beri) fell ‘ Beripadavu’. These place names survived in the surroundings of Puttur. And since the elephant fell dead into the temple tank, a strong belief grew that elephants cannot survive drinking the tank water.