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The nine spiritually enlightened sons of 'rishabha', the King of Ayodhya, known as 'Navayogis' (Nine ascetics)
- Sathuvanathar,
- Saaloga nathar,
- Aadhinathar,
- Arulithanathar,
- Madhanga Nathar,
- Macchendira Nathar,
- Kadayanthira Nathar,
- Korakkanathar and
- Kukkudanathar)
were constant travelers.
During their sojourn, they reached the confluence of the rivers 'Bagmathi' and 'Gantaki' in Nepal from where heard an 'asareeri' ( the divine prompting voice).
"Install Salagrama's at the most holy place for the welfare of mankind",
On the north bank of Bharatappuzha at Thirunavaya, where Vishnu himself, whom the salagrama represented, had stayed during a 'Yaga' conducted by Brahma on the South bank.
The Eight Elder brothers installed salagrama's of Vishnu but all of them sank deep into the earth.
At last, the youngest of the brothers knowing futile attempts of his brothers as proper rituals that should have been performed at the time of the installation were not performed.
Installed the Salagrama, as Mukunda bestowing 'Moksha' to the departed souls with all necessary rituals. This time the installation was successful.
Later these nine brothers (Navayogis) came to this place and performed a 'Yaga' (or 'Yajna', meaning 'ritual of sacrifice') for the appeasement of the gods and the welfare of the people.
The place was thus known as 'Tirunavayogi', in memory of the nine brothers, and the word transformed, as time passed, to the present form 'Thirunavaya'.
Another Version
Vishnu gave darsan for Nava yogi. Hence this place is called Thirunavayogi and later changed in to Thirunaavaya. In due course, 8 yogis attained moksha and the vigrahams worshipped by them also disappeared and as a result of this, the ninth yogi got dejected and stopped offering worship to Vishnu. When questioned by Perumal, he said that he was missing his companions and Perumal with his maya showed the 8 yogis. The 8 yogis agreed to stay there but said that they would be invisible to human eyes and the 9th yogi could feel their presence. In due course, the 9th yogi requested Perumal to make him also invisible. But Perumal insisted that the vigraham worshipped by the 9 th yogi must be kept there itself and Perumal blessed the 9 yogis saying that they could offer worship to Him at that place forever. Hence, what we see now is the vigraham worshipped by the 9th yogi.
Another Version
It is a usual practice in Kerala temples that after installing an idol, the Sreekovil would remain closed for 7 days with the belief that the devas would offer pooja to the idol. In this temple, first a vigraham was installed and the Sreekovil was kept closed for 7 days. But when the doors opened, they were shocked to see the idol missing. They again brought another idol and the idol disappeared. This went on for 8 times and on the 9th time, out of curiosity, when they opened the temple doors before the scheduled time, they were shocked to see that the idol had descended into the earth upto the knee. To prevent further descent of the idol, They immediately chanted various mantras and saw to it that the idol did not descend further. It is believed that when the idol would descend into the earth, Kaliyuga will come to an end.
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Markandeya
It is a well known story that Markandeya was destined to die at th age of 16. When Lord Yama came to take his life, the little boy ran into this temple and prayed to Perumal to save him. Perumal appeared before the boy and gave him a Shiva linga for worship and advised the boy to escape from the backside entrance. He assured that Lord Shiva would take care of him. As soon as Markandeya escaped from the backside, Perumal placed a big stone and closed the way permanently and ensured that Yama could not enter the way. To this day, the door behind Perumal remains closed. Markandeya worshiped Shiva near to this temple and the place where Lord Shiva gave darsan to Markandeya and killed Yama, is now famous as the Truppangottu Shiva Temple - one among 108 Shivalayams.
Pithru Tharpanam
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