> > what is Tripurantaka story line ? may be you can help with > appropriate link.
shiva as a god has several legends associated with him. especially the veerattaanam stories.
if we list them perhaps we could get a clue. some concerned punishing other gods,yama, kama bramha dakshan etc some were fights with animals( assumed to be demons) elephants etc some were individual duels with demons like andakasuran, Jalandarasuran
i think only thiruvathikai with its legend of destruction of an entire city/ race of demons matches the vaishnavite tales of bravery by their supreme god. warrior kings wanted perhaps to be associated with such legends.
venketesh
> > Secondly, Tiruvalangadu CP refers Parantaka at the lotus feet of > Purantaka ... naturally RRC did follow suit.. > > And direction wise, RRC might have been concerned with South, North > and the West .. hence Tripurantaka would have appealed to him more.. > > And if the 27 sculptures around the big temple walls are interpreted > as Tripurantaka (as to why RRC is keen on Tripuranaka) because of > siva with bow, those sculptures bear different names too .. > > And RjC .. leter took care of East .. and far east too. > > anbudan / sps >
> I can post thirupurantaka story later today.If my memory servs right ganesha was the charioter od his father siva in this battle.
perhaps they compromised later but naughty ganesha broke the axle of the charriot his father rode in achu - iru- pakkam.
poor shiva, i think it was the first time he ever rode in a charriot and it was so accident prone. i think other than the axle at achirupakkam, the foot board broke in thirivir kolam( on the banks of the cooum lake)
The Tripurantaka story does not have Ganesh or an elephant headed asura, so that is out.It could be Siva and Gajasura but Gajasura is known to have been killed with the trident, not bow and arrow. It could be Ganesha and Talasura, the only 'asura' Ganesha battled, but the sculpture does not look an asura. More research on this front for me.
For those intersted regardless of the Tripurantaka story, below is the story, also a great link with differnet versions of Tirupurantakas.
purANa of the deity ( from saivism.org) : tri pura a.ntakar : destroyer of three cities (vIra mUrti)
The tripurA signify the three components(impurities) of bondage (pAsam) namely aham (ego), karma(deeds and their effects), mAya (illusion). When God shows His grace all these impurities are burnt, bliss remains and Lord Shiva dances there. (padhi aNukiR pachu pAcha n^illAvE - thirumUlar)
Three demons kamalAkshan, tArukAkshan, vidhunmAli got a boon from the Lord that they can not be destroyed unless all three of them come together, and attacked by a single arrow. Then they created forts in different areas and ruled the world. dEvAs who were disturbed by them complained it to the Lord. But Lord Shiva said as long as the three demons pray Him He won't destroy them. So mahA vishNu took the form of a sage, and taught the three demons mAyAvAtham, resulting them to stop praying the Lord, praising themselves and torturing dEvAs. Since all the good qualities of them were lost the Lord came for the destruction of the purAs. The three demons came together to fight against the Lord forgetting their boon.
The earth became the chariot for the Lord, brahma the charioteer, vishNu the arrow, sun and moon the wheels, the mountain mEru as the bow and the serpent vAsuki as the string in the bow. Thus all the gods were present in some form in that chariot. But the fire and god of death were in the wheel instead of the arrow. vinAyaka broke the wheel to put them in the arrow. Finally when everything was ready dEvAs were proud that only with their help God is going to destroy the tripuras. But Lord Shiva didn't use any of them. He smiled and in that smile the three purAs were burnt down.(The rudhrAksha appeared from the three eyes of Lord Shiva during tripurasaMhAra) The thought of dEvAs that without their help the Lord wont be able to destroy the tripuras proved foolish.
The purpose of destruction by Lord is only for purification. Lord gave life to the three demons. Though they went wrong they initially were devotees. They repented for their mistake. The Lord forgave them and gave one of them the great work of fanning Him with chAmaram, and the rest two as His security in His abode. (mUvAr puraN^kaL eriththa anRu mUvarkku aruL cheydhAn - thiru nyAna chamban^dhar)
what is the earthly manifestation of thirupuram- is is thiruvathigai?? the veerattaanam story there is same. and we have achirupakkam associated with the legend en route.
thiruvathigai converted appar and his nemesis the pallava. also sundara had twice a thiruvadi thiikshai. the holy foot touched his head twice in one night.
Thanks Satish, I don't know what is wrong, my pc has anti virus and only this one email keeps coming repeatedly. Perhaps Thiru or someone can help? I can exit the group and rejoin if that is required, sincere apologies.
The Devas repeated their prayer and Siva now asked them to prepare for the fight. The Devas with the help of Visvakarma constructed the chariot, made weapons and accompanied him as the ganas i.e retinue. Lord Brahma addressed Siva and said "Lord you are Omniscient and Omnipotent and you do not require all these chariot, weapons, and the retinue to destroy the Asuras? The Asuras will disappear the moment you "will", but if you are still resorting to these acts it is purely out of your sport". Siva laughed and at the same moment the Asuras were burnt to ashes. In order to please the Devas Siva discharged the arrow. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
pl read the last line...we might need to relook at the tanjai mural painting
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Now it gets more interesting with these lines
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There are several segments in the legend of Tripurantaka Siva. The Asuras of Tripura were originally worshipers of Linga but were so arrogant they were causing havoc in the worlds. The Devas performed a Vedic sacrifice called Upasad which gave them a very powerful weapon but the Devas were unable to use it and so they approached Rudra to discharge the weapon. Rudra asked them to become Pasus and accept him as their leader Pasupati. The Devas were worried. Siva told them that by becoming Pasus and worshipping Pasupati they will transcend Pasutva i.e. their limitations -bondage and reach the end of their suffering. The Devas willingly accepted Pasupati as their leader and gave him the legal power to punish the asuras. The Devas worshipped Pasupati in the form of a Linga by observing Pasupata vrata. They now requested Siva to destroy the Asuras
At this stage the Linga-purana introduces an apparently unconnected episode. Even as the Devas were requesting Siva, Parvati called Siva and said "Lord Look at our beloved child Subramanya dancing." Both Siva and Parvati with parental affection looked at the dance of Skanda and were delighted. That is the Soma-skanda form.
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So now we can see more into the tripurantaka affection of rrc...sps / pasupata cult + inclusion of the son - skanda / rjc.....
this temple was in the news being claimed both by thailand and cambodia. its a temple some of its later architecture matching the time period of big temple .
god's name is bradeshwara the name is co incidentally preah vihar (sounds like periya vihar) and there are sculptures depicting the fight between arjuna and shiva.
Siva laughed and at the same moment > the Asuras were burnt to ashes. In order to please the Devas Siva > discharged the arrow. > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > > pl read the last line...we might need to relook at the tanjai mural > painting > > >>>>>>>>>>> >
NATARAJA THE LORD OF DANCE C.Sivaramamurti
Even the arrow of Siva is described as dancing, particularly that of Tripurantaka. It is very appropriate because the arrow of Siva is made up of both Agni and Vishnu. The flame of fire is a great dancer, indeed, and Vishnu created the lovely vrittis which constitute the element of charm in dance. Like Brahma and Siva, Vishnu is also a great acharya or preceptor of dance. The verse of Vaidya Gadadhara is a picturesque description of Tripurantaka's arrow as a dancer. The flame of arrow performs the tandava dance, removing the enveloping curtain of smoke for entering the stage, scatters a handful of flowers in the guise of sparks of fire all over, and lightly stepping on the wide expanse of the mansions of the three cities, created by Maya, completely envelopes the aspect of the emotion of terror, multiplying in all directions: vishvag vyadhuya dhumaprachayayavanikam sphayamanasphulingavyajad akirya pushpanjalim upari padam nyasyato mandiranam svachchandabhogasima mahati mayapure dattaraudrangaragavyaptaseshasya visvesvarasarasikhinas tandavam nah punatu (Saduktikarnamritam, p. 23, 78).