The kandha puranam is called a 'maangalya puranam' because the marriages of parvathi, deivayanai and valli take place in this puranam.
Marriage of Meenakshi with Lord Shiva
Lord Indra marrying his daughter to Lord Muruga
Lord Muruga marrying Valli
In this puranam the bad people are destroyed and the good people are saved. Just like the bhagvad geetha, the kandha puranam also gives us great knowledge.
Just how lord anjaneya comes and protects people in all places were lord ramas name prevail, lord shiva protects all were the kandha puranam prevails.
There are ten puranas for lord shiva. Among that the kandha puranam is a very special puranam.
The kandhapuranam was given to us by KachiappaSivachariar. He was a great devotee of lord muruga.
Sivachariar was fortunate enough to do pooja to lord muruga in his temple at 'Kumara Kottam' about 1,100 years ago. This temple is in the kanchipuram district today. Lord Muruga punished Lord Brahma for his ignorance of the meaning of the Pranava mantra, by a hard knock on his vortex with His fist and then imprisoned him. Later, He assumed the Creation duties of Lord Brahma. In this Kumara Kottam Temple, Lord Muruga installed himself in the sanctum in the 'Creator' (Brahmasasta) form.
The location of the Kumara Kottam Temple between Śrī Ekambereswarar Temple and Śrī Kāmākshi Amman Temple reminds devotees of the Somaskanda form in which Muruga sits in betweenParvati and Parameswara.
Somaskanda is a particular form of representation of Shiva with his consort Uma, and Skanda as a child. This family group depiction of Shiva originated during the 6th-8th centuries during the period of the Pallava in South India. The representation shows Shiva with four arms and Uma, and between them the infant Skanda is shown as dancing with ecstasy. Over a period of time, a number of such depictions have been discovered from different regions which were once under the control of Pallavas.
Just like the somaskandha formation of lord muruga in between lord shiva and parvathy, Murugar in kumara kottam temple is in between sri ekambareshwarar temple and kamatchi amman temple.
KachiappaSivachariar was a great tamil scholar and an even greater devotee. He was familiar with both the languages of the north and the south. He was the son of KaalathiappaSivachariar
One day lord muruga came in a dream of kachiappar along with his vel and peacock. Kachiappar was mesmerized and listened to what the lord said. The lord said to kachiappar "bhaktha ! my history has been mentioned in one of the samitas (sections) of the shiva puranam. You have to sing my history in beautifull tamil. You have to start my purana with 'thikada sakkara' ". Saying this the lord disappeared. Lord Muruga had pointed out to him that he could get the materials for the work from the Sanskrit Skanda Purana which is one of the ten Siva Purana. Kachiappar woke from his dream and his eyes were filled with tears. He kept the phrase given by the lord 'thikada sakkara' in his mind firmly. He went to the kumara kottam temple and went to the murugar sannithi. He prayed to lord vinayaga and started writing,
" Thikada Sakkarach semugam ainthulan
Sagada sakkarath thamarai nayagan
Sagada sakkara vinmani yavurai
Vigada sangaran meip patham potruvom"
He wrote this vinayagar kaapu first and kept his writings at the lords feet. He prayed to him and took the writings and read it. His eyes were filled with love for the lord. He decided to write a 100 songs daily.
The first day he wrote a 100 songs and before the temple closed for the night, he kept the writings at the lords feet and prayed to him.
The next day after the temple opened, he went to the murugar sanithi and took his yesterdays writings from the lords feet and read it again. As he read it, he was filled with joy. The reason for his joy was because there were corrections in his writings. Lord Muruga himself corrected the mistakes in KachiappaSivachariars writings.
This continued for many days. Kachiappar would write daily and the lord would correct them daily. A total of 10,345 songs were completed.
The literary work of the kandha purana was completed in the year 778 A.D.
Kachiappar wished to publish it. In those days, before a scholar can publish his literary work, he has to read his work in front of a sabha of tamil pandits. They will check whether the work is correct in its grammar and meaning. The
The pandits will ask questions and point out many mistakes like sorkutram, porutkutram or ilakanapillai. One has to answer all their questions and convince them. Only after getting their acceptance of the literary works correctness can one publish his work.
The day came when the sabha was gathered in front of the king. The sabha had great tamil pandits and religious scholars. In front of this sabha the 'kandha puranam' was getting ready to get the seal of acceptance of the kingdom.
Kachiappar came and paid respect to the king and the sabha and began reading. "Thikada Sakkarach semugam ainthulan". Just as kachiappar finished the first line, there was a lot of chatter in the sabha. One tamil pulavar got up and said " Oh kachiapparey ! i found a mistake in the first words of your work. The word 'thigadasakkaram' is not correct. There is no grammatical rule in tamil that allows the formation of such a word "
To this kachiappar replied, " Dear sir, i too know this. But the first word was told by lord muruga himself. The first word is like a crown to this literary work."
To this the pulavar replied to kachiappar" if that is true let the lord himself come in front of the sabha and tell that he himself had told the word to you."
Kachiappar politely replied to the pulavar, " if that is what you want, let the sabha leave today and assemble tomorrow and you will get the answer for your question."
Kachiappar went prayed to the lord," Gnanavela ! Why did you ask me to start my work with that word? Is this one of your games? Balasubramaniya Perumale ! Tomorrow i have to answer the questions of that pulavar. What am i going to do ? "
That night Lord Muruga came in Kachiappars dream sitting on his beautifull peacock, holding the sharp vel in his hand and said to kachiappar, " kachiappa, you have sung my history in beautifull tamil ! You dont have to worry. The rising sun will bring triumph to you."
The next day the sabha gathered. A new pulavar was in the sabha today. His face was beautifull as the moon. His forehead was covered with sacred ash. He was wearing a rudraksh chain. He stood up and began to speak," To all those gathered here, i have come to answer the question you have put forward yesterday. In the Chola kingdom there is a literary work known as 'Veerasoliyam'. In that book, grammatical rule allows 'thikal + thasam = thikatcham'. So the first word of kachiappars work is correct."
Saying this he kept forward a manuscript. The pulavar who asked the question yesterday took it up and read it. The chola pulavar was right.
With this the chola pulavar disappeared in front of the sabha. Everyone realised that the chola pulavar was none other than the lord himself. They started shouting the lords name, " Muruga ! Kandha ! Kadamba ! "
Not only did the lord give kachiappar the first words for his work, but he also took the form of a pulavar to give the grammatical explanation. The whole country was astonished. Everyone realised kachiappars greatness.
The day came when the sabha was gathered in front of the king. The sabha had great tamil pandits and religious scholars. In front of this sabha the 'kandha puranam' was getting ready to get the seal of acceptance of the kingdom.
Kachiappar came and paid respect to the king and the sabha and began reading. "Thikada Sakkarach semugam ainthulan". Just as kachiappar finished the first line, there was a lot of chatter in the sabha. One tamil pulavar got up and said " Oh kachiapparey ! i found a mistake in the first words of your work. The word 'thigadasakkaram' is not correct. There is no grammatical rule in tamil that allows the formation of such a word "
To this kachiappar replied, " Dear sir, i too know this. But the first word was told by lord muruga himself. The first word is like a crown to this literary work."
To this the pulavar replied to kachiappar" if that is true let the lord himself come in front of the sabha and tell that he himself had told the word to you."
Kachiappar politely replied to the pulavar, " if that is what you want, let the sabha leave today and assemble tomorrow and you will get the answer for your question."
Kachiappar went prayed to the lord," Gnanavela ! Why did you ask me to start my work with that word? Is this one of your games? Balasubramaniya Perumale ! Tomorrow i have to answer the questions of that pulavar. What am i going to do ? "
That night Lord Muruga came in Kachiappars dream sitting on his beautifull peacock, holding the sharp vel in his hand and said to kachiappar, " kachiappa, you have sung my history in beautifull tamil ! You dont have to worry. The rising sun will bring triumph to you."
The next day the sabha gathered. A new pulavar was in the sabha today. His face was beautifull as the moon. His forehead was covered with sacred ash. He was wearing a rudraksh chain. He stood up and began to speak," To all those gathered here, i have come to answer the question you have put forward yesterday. In the Chola kingdom there is a literary work known as 'Veerasoliyam'. In that book, grammatical rule allows 'thikal + thasam = thikatcham'. So the first word of kachiappars work is correct."
Saying this he kept forward a manuscript. The pulavar who asked the question yesterday took it up and read it. The chola pulavar was right.
With this the chola pulavar disappeared in front of the sabha. Everyone realised that the chola pulavar was none other than the lord himself. They started shouting the lords name, " Muruga ! Kandha ! Kadamba ! "
Not only did the lord give kachiappar the first words for his work, but he also took the form of a pulavar to give the grammatical explanation. The whole country was astonished. Everyone realised kachiappars greatness.
A painting on the walls of the 500 year old 'Arulmigu Kasi Viswanathar Temple' in Rasipuram
After this incident, kachiappar read the entire kandha puranam to the sabha and earned the respect of the pulavars and the king.
On an auspicious day, the kandhapuranam was published. The king rewarded kachiappar with gold. He even gave a few villages to kachiappar. Kachiappar was carried on a golden chair through the streets of the kingdom.
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