Piravi Marundeeswarar Temple: A Must-Visit for Ashwini Nakshatra People

The Nakshatra or star under which a person is born is known as his Janma Nakshatra or birth star. Our ancient science of Vedic Astrology recognizes 27 stars. And the star through which the Moon travels at the time of birth of an individual becomes his or her birth star. This Janma Nakshatra, along with the placement of the planets at the time of birth, plays a significant role in shaping that person’s character and fortunes. 

Here, let us learn something about the Ashwini Nakshatra people, that is, those with Ashwini star as their Janma Nakshatra, and the significance Piravi Marundeeswarar temple holds for them.  

Aswini is the first of the 27 stars and falls under Mesha Rasi, the Aries Moon sign. The people of Ashwini Nakshatra are strong, courageous, intelligent, and sociable. Determined and decisive, they are also well known for their quick thinking and fast action. They can, however, also be aggressive, impulsive, and somewhat arrogant. Ashwini Kumaras, the divine physicians, represent this Nakshatra. Hence, the Ashwini Nakshatra-born are said to have the healing energy of these divine beings and hence possess good immunity against all types of health issues.

But when affected by Doshas, the astrological afflictions, there are chances for their negative traits to overshadow their positives and cast their adverse effects on their lives in various ways. It is believed that praying at the Piravi Marundeeswarar temple can provide relief for such afflictions of Ashwini star people. 

It is Lord Shiva who is worshipped here as Marundeeswarar, and his worship is believed to bestow many benefits, especially to the Ashwini Nakshatra people. Piravi refers to worldly existence, and the term Marundeeswarar stands for the great healer or physician. Thus, Shiva, as Piravi Marundeeswarar, is also believed to be the one who can cure people of the deadly cycle of birth and death and lead them to Moksha, the liberation. People also pray in this temple for an early and successful marriage, progeny blessing, and excellence in education. 

       

Piravi Marundeeswarar Temple is located in the Thiruthuraipoondi town of Tiruvarur district in Tamil Nadu state.

The presiding deity of the temple is also known as Gajasamharamoorthy, and there is an interesting legend regarding this name. 

Once, the sages doing penance in Tarukavana started assuming that Shiva got his power only due to the Yagnyas, the fire rituals they performed and turned arrogant. In order to put them in place and set them on the right path, Shiva appeared there as a young and handsome mendicant. Smitten by his charm and grace, the spouses of the sages began following him. Not to be outdone, Vishnu, too, appeared as an extraordinarily beautiful woman before the sages, who forgot themselves and started going behind her.   

  

Soon realizing that it was a game played by Shiva to cut them to size, the sages became wild, created a fierce elephant from the holy fire, and unleashed it on the Lord. But Shiva slew the elephant and adorned himself with its skin. The chastised sages realized their folly and surrendered to Shiva, who thus became Gajasamharamoorthy, the slayer of the elephant.         

Another story is about the virtuous female-demon Jallika, an ardent devotee of Shiva. Once, her wicked husband, demon Virupakshan, killed and consumed a Brahmin boy, who was proceeding to do Shrardha, the annual death ceremony of his parents. This he did, disregarding the strong objection of his wife, who had warned him that he would pay with his life for the sin. And true to her words, Virupakshan himself was killed soon. Jallika is said to have surrendered to Shiva at this place then and pleaded with him to revive her husband. Shiva’s consort Parvati appeared as Goddess Periyanayaki before Jallika, blessed her, and brought both the demon and the Brahmin boy back to life. The Goddess is also believed to have declared that she will bless all those performing ancestral worship with devotion and give salvation to those departed souls; and also assured that she would spare the life of the husband of the woman, who prays to the Goddess here, even if he is wicked.    

          

It is believed that the presiding deity Marundeeswarar can relieve people of fear, destroy their arrogance, and grant them salvation. Worshipping this Lord can be especially beneficial for the Ashwini star people, who can enjoy good health and welfare all their lifetime. They can also perform Homas, the Fire Labs for Dhanvantri and Shaniswara, worship Angaraka, the Mars in the temple for greater blessings. 

If anyone is not sure about his or her Janma Nakshatra, help is readily available for them in the form of the Nakshatra Calculator. In this user-friendly system, all you have to do is to provide your date, time, country, and place of birth, in the appropriate columns. This will instantly give you some basic astrological birth details like your birth star, Rasi, the Moon sign, and a few other details. 

Thus, this simple facility can also be termed Rasi Calculator or Rasi Natchathiram Calculator. 

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