KANDHAPURANAM
PART  II

EPISODE OF THE DIVINE FRUIT OF GNYANA
PALZANI , IDUMBAN AND KAVADI



MURUGAN OF PALZANI
THE GNYANAMURTHI

One day, Siva, Parvathi, Ganesa, and Murugan were together at Kailas.
    The Rishi Naradha came to see them and pay his homages. He had brought
with him a special Divine Fruit of Gnyana.
    Both Ganesa and Murugan asked for the fruit.
    A a contest was set up. Whoever circumvents the universe first would receive
the fruit as the prize.
    Immediately Murugan alighted his peacock mount and flew around the furthest corners of the universe.
    In the meanwhile, Ganesa asked a simple question.
    "Are the parents - Mother and Father equal to the universe?"
    All of them answered that it is so.
    Ganesa then circumvented his father and mother and then without hesitation
took the fruit as his prize.
    Just about that time, Murugan arrived after finishing the round journey.
    But the fruit was already in the hands of Ganesa.
    He flew into a rage and discarding everything donned the loin cloth of a mendicant and went away from his home, Kailas.
    He went straight to a hill called Palzani. He stood at the summit of the hill.
    The parents went after him and beseeched him to return.
    But he refused and stood firm.
    The parents went back to Kailas.
    Murugan stood there as the Gnyana Murthi.
    Agasthya, the Great Rishi became His disciple. Murugan taught him Tamil grammer. Thus He came to be hailed as the Tamil God - Thamilz KadavuL.
Agastya in turn compiled the Tamil grammer and caused it to be written in the Mount of Podhiyil by Ganesa. The gramer books were known as
SiRRagathiyam and PEragathiyam.
    Agasthya had a disciple. He was Idumban who was a Rakshasa.
Agasthya told his to go to the Himalaya Mountain and bring two holy hills called Siva Giri and Shakthi Giri.
    Idumban went there and picking up the hills, tied each one of them at the ends
of a staff, hoisted the staff onto his shoulders and came back.
    On the way back, he was very thirsty. So he put down his load and went to
drink water.
    Then he came back and picked up his load. But he could not lift the hills.
    He found a small boy standing on the top of one of the hills.
    He told the boy to go away. But the boy would not. He tried to use force
which resulted in a fight, at the end of which, Idumban was killed.
    Idumban's wife Idumbi went to Agasthya and wailed and lamented to him
about the sad plight of her husband.
    Whereupon, Agasthya sought out the small boy who turnd out to be his
own Guru Murugan.
    Murugan condescended and raised up Idumban.
    In addtion, he gave a special honour to Idumban.
    Murugan sanctioned the institution of a new form of worship. Pots of milk
should be tied to a staff and carried over the shoulder. This should be brought
by walking to a place of Murugan worship especially Palzani Hill. The milk
should be used as abhishekham. Special penances - virathams should be observed before and during the worship.
    This special worship would be known as Kavadi worship.
    Kavadi carrying is an aspect of a very ancient form of Murugan worship.
People go into a trance when carrying a Kavadi and are lost within that state.
They dance along to the singing and drum-beating of those who escort the
Kavadi carrier.
    After the Kavadi carrying and abhishekam, special pujai has to be done to Idumban which would involve the sacrifice of a cockerel. This pujai takes place
two days afer the Kavadi festival.
    In important Murugan temples, a sannidhi to Idumban is present. The VEl
is erected in the shrine which stands as a personification of Idumban.

    VIDYALANKARA
DR.S.JAYABARATHI
JayBee

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