The story of Markandeyan

      Once there lived a sage named Mrikandu with his wife Marudavali , the couple were childless. They worshiped lord Shiva for a child,one day lord Shiva appeared before them and asked if they wanted an ordinary child with a long life or a child with exceptional intelligence with a short life. Sage Mrikandu asked the lord for a child who would be an intelligent and a good son. In due course Marudavali gives birth to a son who would only live for sixteen years. The couple name him Markandeyan, the child as promised by the lord showed great understanding of the scriptures and at a very young age  became an accomplished sage.


     Markandeyan in his sixteenth year knew his time on earth  was going to end. He was in the temple worshiping lord Shiva in the form of a Shivalingam,on seeing Kalan(or yama,the god of death) come towards him, Markandeyan clutched  the shivalingam and prayed to lord Shiva to protect him. Kalan approached Markandeyan and threw his noose around him ,the noose also encircled the shivalingam which Markandeyan was hugging. Lord Shiva exploded out of the Lingam with great fury and struck down Yama for encircling the lingam with his noose . He blessed the boy-sage Markandeyan with eternal life always at the same age of sixteen.


     With Kalan gone , there was no death on earth and Bhumadevi (goddess earth) worshiped to the Lord saying that she cannot bear such a huge burden. And in answer to her prayer lord Shiva revives Kalan.


      The story is thus believed to have taken place in Tirukkadaiyur in Tamil Nadu, the place is now celebrated as a place where death itself died. People visit this place for good health and long life.

Story of Onam

            The beautiful state of Kerala was once ruled by an asura(demon) king Mahabali who was the grandson of Prahalad . The king was greatly loved and respected in his kingdom and was considered wise, judicious and extremely generous. Kerala witnessed a golden era during the reign of Mahabali and the people were extremely happy. His bravery and strength of character earned him the name Mahabali Chakravathy.


       Though belonging to the asura(demon) dynasty, King Mahabali was a devout worshiper of Lord Vishnu. The Gods were threatened by the popularity of this asura king. They wanted to find a way to put an end to his reign and to reaffirm their own supremacy .Aditi , the mother of the Gods appealed to Lord Vishnu whom Mahabali worshipped, for help.


       King Mahabali was famous for his generosity , Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a dwarf brahmin called Vamana. He approached king Mahabali just as he was finishing his morning prayers and begged for a piece of land. The generous king granted Vamana his wish and asked him how much land he wanted. Vamana asked for three paces of land. At once Shukracharya, the adviser to king Mahabali, sensed that the dwarf was no ordinary brahmin and warned the king. King Mahabali felt it is very unfit for a king to go back on his promise and asked the dwarf brahmin to chose his land. 


       As soon as the king granted the Brahmin his wish the brahmin  increased himself to the size of cosmic proportions. With one step he covered the earth and with the other he covered the skies , next he asked the king for a place where he could keep his foot for the third pace. Knowing that the third step would destroy the earth, the great king with folded arms offered his head for the brahmin to place his foot. Lord Vishnu put his foot on King Mahabali's head and pushed him into patala(underworld). The king on seeing the brahmin's true identity asked for just one boon. 


      The king was so attached to his kingdom and its people that he requested that he be allowed to visit Kerala once a year.Greatly moved by the kind king's devotion for his people Lord Vishnu granted him the wish.


      It is the day of visit of King Mahabali that is celebrated as Onam every year. It is a tribute to the great king's sacrifice .Elaborate preparations are made for the king's homecoming . The people of Kerala show in their celebrations how happy they are and also show how they wish their king well.

Story of Mylapore

      Once Parvathi, the divine consort of Lord Shiva was distracted on seeing a peacock while she was with her husband, Angered by her callousness Lord Shiva cursed her to become a pea hen. Parvathi came to Mylapore then called Kapali Nagar and did penance as advised by Lord Shiva. After several years of penance Parvathi was redeemed of her curse and rejoined her Lord. Since Parvathi came as  a mayil(pea hen), the place thereon came to be called Mylapore.

The fruit of wisdom-Palani

      There is a legend that says that one day the sage Narada Muni, brought a golden mango to the home of Lord Shiva, and prayed that he eat it . The lord gave the fruit to his consort Goddess Parvathi and asked her to eat it. The fruit was a rare one and was the fruit of wisdom, Parvathi wanted her sons Lord Ganpathi and Lord Muruga to eat it. The problem was the fruit has to be eaten fully to gain its benefits and that meant only one of her children could have it.

      

      Lord Shiva came up with the idea of a contest between his two children and said that the child who goes round the world three times and comes back here first will truly deserve the fruit and so will be rewarded with it.

At once Lord Muruga got on his peacock and flew determined to win the fruit. Lord Ganesha whose vehicle is the mouse knew it was futile to try and beat his younger brother if he sets out on his mouse and tries to go around the world. He does beat his brother to the fruit ! He goes three times around his parents who were seated and declared that since his parents were his whole world he has gone around the world thrice, his amused father gave away the fruit to him.

      Lord Muruga came back sure of his victory, and was greatly taken aback seeing the fruit in the hands of Lord Ganesha . In  a fit of anger he renounced his family and climbed up a hill and remained there. His loving parents Lord Shiva and Parvathi came to pacify him and said that he was the fruit of wisdom(Nyana pazlum)- Palani. The place thereon came to be called  Palani.

churning of the ocean of milk

Churning of the ocean of milk, How fascinating!!!!!!!

This story is one of my favourite stories among Hindu mythology stories.

The story has never ceased to amaze me and I have always loved telling it.

The devas(gods) and the asuras(demons) join together to churn the ocean of milk to obtain the nectar of immortality.

The ocean being so huge is churned using the mountain Mandara as the churning staff and the serpent Vasuki as the churning rope. The mountain starts to sink in the huge ocean, Lord Vishnu takes the form of a tortoise(kurma avatar) and bears the weight of the whole mountain on his back.

As the churning continues  what comes out among lot of other things is a deadly poison , the poison spit by the snake Vasuki.which threatens to destroy all living things around. Lord Shiva takes pity and gathers the poison in his palm and drinks it. His wife Parvati clasps his throat and prevents him from swallowing and the poison remains there.

Finally when the nectar comes out ,the asuras are cheated out of the nectar and the gods drink it to get there powers back.(that's another story)