Identified variously as Vinayaka, Ganesa and Pillaiyar, the son of Siva and Parvati is the one God everybody prays to, together with celestials, earlier than endeavor any exercise. His temples dot each road nook in cities throughout the nation. Pillaiyar just isn’t merely a remover of hurdles in a single’s endeavour, however He’s additionally an upholder of rules of dharma and turns devotees in direction of the precise path. Kumbakonam’s Karumbayiram Pillaiyar’s sport is a good instance of this, mentioned P. Swaminathan.

The Karumbayiram temple in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, is an historic one. Legend has it that the idol was put in by Varaha Perumal, north of the Kumbeswaran temple, after making a sacred tank. He prayed to the idol for the profitable achievement of His dharmic quest and the temple got here to be referred to as Varaha Pillaiyar. As soon as, a sugarcane service provider was driving his heavily-laden cart on a scorching day to the market and stopped to refresh himself within the tank close to the Pillaiyar temple. When he returned to his cart, a small boy with a fats stomach was ready there. He requested the service provider for one sugarcane, however the service provider, a miser, he informed the boy, “Oh, this sugarcane will likely be salty, it won’t be good to style,” and drove off in his cart. The boy, unwilling to surrender, adopted him, pleading for a small sugarcane. Just a few of the villagers current admonished the service provider for being harsh to a toddler, however he was unmoved.

The boy and the others fell behind and the service provider reached the wholesale market. In the course of the sampling, his sugarcanes have been rejected as being salty. The service provider retraced his steps residence, dejected. Nearing the Varaha Pillaiyar temple, he recalled the fats boy and looked for him. When the locals knowledgeable him that that they had no thought the place he lived, however they noticed him enter the temple, the service provider realised it was a divine sport. He prostrated to Varaha Pillaiyar and sought His pardon. Showing earlier than the devotee, Pillaiyar mentioned He merely needed to spotlight the significance of following a dharmic life.