Poornavalli Thayar

Poornavalli Thayar is a Hindu figure.

Poornavalli, also called "Poorva Devi", means "the one who filled the grail". Lakshmi is named as Poornavalli. She is the Mother goddess, worshiped in Uthamar Kovil (also known as Thirukkarambanoor or Bhikshandar Kovil) in Uthamarkoil, a village in the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshiped as Purshottamar and His consort Lakshmi as Poornavalli Thayar.

The skull was stuck in his palm. Shiva used it as the begging bowl. While coming to this place (Bikshandar kovil), Vishnu requested his consort Lakshmi to give alms to Shiva. Shiva's grail was filled by the alms and Lakshmi came to be known as "Poornavalli" (the one who filled the grail). She got rid of Shiva's hunger completely. Since Shiva came with a begging bowl and his hunger was entirely satisfied, he is known as Bikshandar.

Brahma and Shiva both had originally five heads. One day Brahma went to Kailasah. Parvathi could not recognise Brahma; she was confused and concluded it was her husband "Shiva". Parvathi started to perform padha pooja (ablution of feet, considered an act of respect). Brahma knew this fact, but he remained silent. On seeing this, Shiva understood that Parvathi had no intention. Parvathi was unaware that the one who stood before her was not Her lord, but it was Brahma. Enraged in anger, Shiva plucked the Brahma's fifth head, which resulted in "Brahmahatthi dosham" (sin resulted due to murder of "Brahmin"). The fifth head of Brahma stuck in Shiva's hand. Shiva wandered and visited temples to be relieved from the curse. To find salvation from the curse, Shiva went around the world on a pilgrimage begging for food, with Brahmma’s skull as the begging vessel. Every time someone filled the vessel with food, it vanished immediately, to Shiva’s horror. At Uthamar Koil, Goddess Lakshmi filled the vessel with food, thus ending Shiva’s hunger. However, to Shiva’s dismay, Brahma’s skull still lay fixed on his hand. He was partly absolved of the sin at Bitchandar Koil. Vishnu instructed Shiva to worship Him (Vishnu) at Thirukandiyur after a bath in the temple tank. Shiva went to Thirukandiyur and did accordingly and was absolved of the sin. The temple tank, since then, has come to be known as kapala theertham.

Similarities

The Poornavalli Thayar satisfies Shiva's hunger. This legend is similar like Annapoorna devi. Goddess Parvati was told by her consort Shiva that the world is an illusion and that food is a part of this illusion called māyā. The Divine Mother who is worshiped as the manifestation of all material things, including food, became angry. To demonstrate the importance of her manifestation of all that is material, she disappeared from the world. Her disappearance brought time to a standstill and the earth became barren. There was no food to be found anywhere, and all the beings suffered from the pangs of hunger.

Seeing all the suffering, Mother Parvati was filled with compassion and reappeared in Kasi and set up a kitchen. Hearing about her return, Shiva ran to her and presented his bowl in alms, saying, "Now I realize that the material world, like the spirit, cannot be dismissed as an illusion." Parvati smiled and fed Shiva with her own hands.

See also

References
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