Bairavar Manifestations

Bhairava

("Terrible" or "Frightful"), sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya, is the fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation.He is one of the most important deities of Nepal, sacred to Hindus alike.

He is depicted ornamented with a range of twisted serpents, which serve as earrings, bracelets, anklets, and sacred thread (yajnopavita). He wears a tiger skin and a ritual apron composed of human bones. Bhairava has a dog as his divine vahana (vehicle).

Bhairava himself has eight manifestations: Kala Bhairava, Asitanga Bhairava, Samhara Bhairava, Ruru Bhairava, Krodha Bhairava, Kapala Bhairava, Rudra Bhirava and Unmatta Bhairava. Kala Bhairava is conceptualized as the Guru of the planetary deity Saturn. Bhairava is known as Vairavar in Tamil where he is often presented as a Grama Devata or folk deity who safeguards the devotee on all eight directions (ettu tikku). Known in Sinhalese as Bahirawa, he protects treasures. Lord Bhairava is the main deity worshipped by the cannibalistic Aghora sect.

The origin of Bhairava can be traced to the conversation between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu recounted in "Shiv Maha-Purana" where Lord Vishnu asks Lord Brahma who is the supreme creator of the Universe. Arrogantly, Brahma tells Vishnu to worship him because he (Brahma) is the supreme creator. This angered Shiva who in reality is the creator of all. Shiva then incarnated in the form of Bhairava to punish Brahma. Bhairava beheaded one of Brahma's five heads and since then Brahma has only four heads. When depicted as Kala Bhairava, Bhairava is shown carrying the amputated head of Brahma. Cutting off Brahma's fifth head made him guilty of having slain brahma, and as a result, he was forced to carry around the head for years until he had been absolved of the sin.

Another story of the origin of Bhairava is the tale of Sati, wife of Shiva. Sati, the daughter of the king of gods, Daksha, had chosen to marry Shiva. Her father disapproved the alliance because he perceived Shiva as an ascetic associated with a frugal lifestyle, forest animals and ghosts. Eventually, Daksha held a yagna (a ritualistic sacrifice) and invited all the gods, but not Sati and Shiva. Sati came to the yagna alone, where Daksha publicly spoke in a belittling manner about Shiva. Sati could not bear to hear her husband insulted and offered herself to the sacrificial pyre.

When Shiva learned of this, he destroyed the yagna and killed Daksha by beheading him. Shiva carried Sati's corpse on his shoulders and ran uncontrollably all around the world for days. Since this would eventually destroy all creation, Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra (divine discus) to cut Sati's body into pieces, which then fell all around. These spots where Sati's body parts fell are now known as Shakti Peethas. In the form of the frightful Bhairava, Shiva is said to be guarding each of these Shaktipeeths. Each Shaktipeeth temple is accompanied by a temple dedicated to Bhairava.

Image1:  Swarnakarshna Bairavar - Danvantri  Temple                                 
Image2:  Swarnakarshna Bairavar
Image3:  Kasi Kala Bairavar
Image4:  Sri Kala Bairavar
Image5:  Bairavar - Tiruvallam

Image6:  Bairavar - Irudayaleeswarar Temple, Tiruninravur

Image7:  Bairavar - Tirupachur

Image8:  Sri Chadurkala Bairavar

Image9:  Chakra Bairavar - Tiruvanamalai

Image10: Bairavar - Marundeeswarar Temple

Image11: Sri Yoga Bairavar - Tiruputhur  

Image12: Yoga Bairavar - Perur

Image13: Bairavar - Somangalam

Image14: Bairavar - Kuberan Temple    

                                                                                       

 

Kanchi Kailasanathar

Brahmasirakandeeswarar Kailasanathar

The Kailasanath temple is located in the temple town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, India. It was built by the Pallavas in the early 8th century CE. It is famous for its splendid vimana. It also contains numerous panels showing lord Siva as Nataraja in various postures.This temple was built by Pallava King Narasimhavarman II (Rajasimhan).

The Chola King Rajaraja Chola I visited this temple and named this temple as kachipettu periya thirukatrali(Stone Tenple of Kachipettu(ancient name of kanchipuram).It is believed by many archeologists that this kailasanathar temple must be the inspiration for Rajaraja Chola I to built the Tanjore Brihadeeswarar temple.

Currently the temple is well maintained by Archaeological Survey of India

It is learnt that the Shiva lingam has the flat stripes inside the temple which is specialty of this lingam. It is 10 feet high and the temple closes by 6 to 630 PM daily. There is a story behind this early closure. Temple priest narrates it to the visitors.

Travel Introduction

I used to travel a lot. Temples, tourist spots with my family. Family - my wife, daughter and my parents. I will try to put my travel experiences, routes in writing with photos which i hopes readers would find interesting. I will try to give routes also for those places since some temples are very interior.I am a staunch devotee of Lord Bairava and it was my ambition for a long time to create a blog for me posted with lot of Bairava photos also . Pray Lord Bairava and he will be with you, protect you from all evils. Some of the photos took personally be me, some where downloaded from other sites, some photos were scanned and uploaded. If anybody have any objection, pls let me know so that i will remove those photos. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Most of my travel are planned for a single day only. Ofcourse i travelled to Haridwar, Risheksh, Simla and other places also. In internet you can find lot of places of tourist interest in and around chennai, india etc., Most of my one day visits are specifically for temples only. Please try to start the journey very early atleast 04.00 a.m. so that we can cover lot of temples. 12-4 mostly you will find all the temples closed and during that time we can have our lunch and relax inside temple praharams, if they permit.

You can find in internet, temples in and around chennai, temples in tamilnadu, temples in cuddalore etc., but i don't think so you can plan your travel like that. Employed people may find it difficult to get leave from their office often. So my travel plans are like (for a single day) if i visit Vellore, choose temples and plan it accordingly. You can try 1/2 a day tour also.

Example, if you are in chennai, for 1/2 a day, you can plan Kuberar temple (Rathnamangalam village. Take a left turn from Vandalur Zoo, proceed straight, after approx 15 mins drive you can find Tagore Engg college, take a immediate left (it is a small mud road) you can reach Kuberan temple. Near Kuberan temple, you can also visit Sri Chakra Kali (you cannot close your eyes at all after seeing her), Shridi Sai temple, Arai kasu amman temple. That is it. Always try to go for a travel with your family, since now-a-days spending time with the family has become less this is a great opportunity to enjoy also. Even if you are a atheist doesn't matter. You can enjoy the journey atleast.

Now I am going to update my blog with only photos whenever time permits I will write a description also.