Nandi at Chamundi Hills Mysore
Lord Nandi Devar serves as the Divine gate keeper as well as the Divine Attendant of Lord Shiva at the holy Kailash Mountain. Before several thousands of years ago, the marriage ceremony of Lord Nandi Bhagavan takes place at the holy place Thirumazhapadi Vaidhyanathar Temple, a famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Though Lord Nandikeswarar serves as a divine attendant of Lord Shiva, but the divine couple, Shiva and Parvati considers him as their own son, and they also conducted marriage for him. After knowing about the good qualities of Suyamprakasai, who was the daughter of the great Sage Vyakrapada, Lord Shiva went to the Ashram of Vyakrapada and sought his permission in order to make the necessary marriage arrangements between Lord Nandi and Ma Suyamprakasai.
During an auspicious day in the Tamil month of Panguni (March – April) the marriage ceremony was performed between Nandi and Suyamprakasai, and the ceremony was attended by sages, demi gods and gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Lord Brahma has taken the position of the Vedic priest, and he began to chant the Mantras, while Ma Parvati and other celestial women in the Kailash helped Lord Nandi to tie the sacred knot, also known as Mangalsutra, on the neck of Ma Suyamprakasai. The wonderful marriage event was witnessed even by some mortals also.
Still in Thirumazhapadi Vaidyanathaswami Temple, during the Tamil month of Panguni, the Utsava idol of Lord Nandi Devar and his consort Ma Suyamprakasai, would be carried in a palanquin by the devotees, and they would circumambulate the temple for a few times, and they also would proceed to the nearby places, in order to show the idols of the divine couple, to the devotees.It is also believed that those who witness the marriage event of Lord Nandi Bhagavan and Ma Suyamprakasai, would get all kinds of prosperity in their lives, and unmarried and childless couples would get their wishes fulfilled within a short period of time.
Lord Nandi Devar is considered as the main Siddhar, and he guides all other Siddhars and Nayanmar Saints to attain spiritual enlightenment, and inculcates them in order to develop more and more “SHIVA BHAKTI”. He also acts as a mediator between us and Lord Shiva, and once if we tell about our wishes, he would immediately put it on to the ears of his master Lord Shiva, and would fulfil our reasonable needs quickly.
There are lot of interesting incidents associated with Lord Nandi, like cursing Ravana for his bad behaviour, telling about the significance of Lord Shiva to Rishi Markandeya, giving life to the stone Nandi and making it to eat grasses, accepting the holy Prasad items on behalf of Lord Shiva from the homes of staunch Shiva devotees during the time of performance of Shiva Puja.
Lord Nandi always blesses the true devotees of Lord Shiva, and similar to Lord Hanuman who would appear by taking a different form during the time of Ramayana Upanyasam, likewise, Lord Nandi Devar also would take a different form and would keenly listen to the “SHIVA PURANA UPANYASAM”, and it was also witnessed by a few staunch devotees of Lord Shiva before few centuries ago.
“OM SRI NANDI DEVAR SAMEDHA MA SUYAMPRAKASAI DEVI NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR