vinayaka-6

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LORD VINAYAKA-BESTOWER OF BOONS

PART-5

SRI.S.V.VARADHARAJAN

  This idol is also worshipped as "swetha pilliyar"which has the same meaning. Sitting majesticlly with His trunk twisted on the right side, this deity is not given any abhishekam. Only camphor is applied over the idol while doing pooja. Let us trace this deity's origin.

      Devendra and the devas were undergoing lot of hardship on account of asuras and so prayed for protection from Lord Vishnu. As advised by Narayana, they made preparations for obtaining the Nector from the milky ocean. They put into the ocean lot of herbal products,made the earth as the big container vessel, the giant sized serpent "Vasuki"as the rope, and the Manthra mountain as the churning rod. They made an agreement with the asuras for making a combined effort and began churning the ocean. Nector did not come up even after many years of toil. At that time, Lord Siva made his appearance there and told them that before starting any new work, Vinayaka pooja should be performed and His blessings obtained so that no hurdles would come in their way. Accordingly,Devendra meditated on Pilliar in his mind and begged for excuse.He wanted to make an idol of that deity for doing pooja. But out of what? Immediatly he thought of an idea. White foam in huge bunches was darting out of the ocean due to churning. He collected some of it and made a beautiful idol of Vinayaka for worship. With Vinayaka's blessings, the Devas were able to get nector from the ocean and their hardships were wiped out. The idol formed at that time got the name as "Swetha Pilliar" by virtue of its white colour. Though small in size its fame is great.
To be contonued