Sarva siddi prade devi Kasi vasini Namosdude ||
Visalakshi Devi sthalam in Kasi is world renowned.
It is at this place (also called Mani-karnikai) that Dakshyani's ear ring
(kundalam) fell and hence this place is one of the 51 sacred devi sthalams in India..
Another legend says devi's right shoulder cup fell here hence sakthi incarnated as Annapoorani devi.
(refer to 'Yoga-agni' in 'Abodes of devi' for background story)
The following is an interesting legend about this holy place.
The king Doorvasindu was ruling over the kingdom of Ayodya. He had two wives. The first wife's name was Manoramy and the second wife's name was Sasikala. Manoramy and Sasikala gave birth to a male child each.
The King Doorvasindu was very happy that he got two sons. The king celebrated the naming ceremony of the children in a grand manner. Manoramy's son was named Sudharsan and Sasikala's son was called Satrujit.
Satrujit was very handsome, clever and lucky. Hence the king was very affectionate towards him. But Sudharson was not so very lucky. The king was not very fond of this son.
One day the king when he was hunting wild animals a lion attacked him and he died.
After the king's death ceremonies were all over they were thinking who would be the next king.
The people of kingdom wanted sudharsan to be crowned the king
But Satrujit's grand-father king Yudhajit of Ujjaini wanted his grandson to be the king. At the same time Sudharson's grand-father Veerasena the king of Kalinga also wanted his grand-son to be the king.
All people of Ayodya and the ministers were in a confused state. The issue could not be resolved. A war broke out.
Atlast the king Yudhajit killed Veerasena the king of Kalinga and Satrujit became the king of Ayodya. with Yudhajit as the guardian of his grand-son.
Manoramy was worried about the Ujjayini king. She feared that the cruel king might kill her son Sudharson also.
Hence she left the kingdom with her son immediatly with help of her trusted ministers and friends.She was walking with her son Sudharson aimlessly. Fortunately she met Sage Baratwaja.She told him her sad story The Sage took pity on her and her son and they stayed with him in the Ashram as it was a safe place to live in. Sudharson grew up in the ashram.
When Sudrasan was about five years old the sage's son called sudharson as 'Hai Kleepa'(means innocent).Sudarson liked this word so much that from that minute he went on chanting Kleem, Kleem,Kleem,(This is Devi's Beejaksharam) always.
Years passed. The Sage educated Sudarson in basics of sastras and arts. But Sudarson perfected all these sasthras by himself. He got all the powers (sakthi) even when he was young. He cultivated a bright personality and a very brave nature.
One day he was walking on the banks of the river when Devi appeared before him. She gave him arrows, a bow and the 'vajrakavacha'(armour) and blessed him.
Sudharson was very happily and returning home he happened to see a princess - the daughter of the king of Kasi.The Princess' name was Sasikala.She fell in love with him at first sight.
One day when the princess was sleeping Devi came in her dream and told her "Sasikala, Sudharson is my devotee. If you marry him he will be a very good husband to you and he will look after you very well". Next day Sasikala met her mother and told her about the dream and she wanted to marry him.
Sasikala's mother informed the king about their daughter's love to Sudharson. But the king did not agree to the match immediately. The King sent a trustworthy person to Sage Bharadwaj's asram and asked him to enquire about Sudharson. Few weeks later the king came to know that Sudarson was king Doorvasindu's son and also why he and his mother were living in Sage Baradwaja's asram through the spy he had sent.
The king explained about sudharson's position to his daughter and he said he would not agree to her marrying a poor man.
He did not leave the matter there. The king sent invitations to all the kingdoms inviting princes for the Iccha-suyamvaram (selection of the bride-groom) and he arranged this in a grand manner.
But Sasikala did not want to marry any one other than Sudharsan.Stubbornly she did not come to 'suyamvaram' Palace.The king was very sad and upset about Sasikala's adamant nature.He apologized to the assembled princes.But they were all very angry with the king and thought the king wantonly disrespected them.
The king of kasi could not bear seeing his daughter unhappy. Hence he agreed to her marrying Sudharson. But the marriage was performed at night time.
All other kings and princes came to know that Sasikala's marriage was over.They were very angry and were waiting for the sun to rise to fight with the king. He was worried what would happen next morning. The king said to sudharson's mother "Raja madha I have finished my daughter's marraige without any body knowing about it. But there will be a very big war So I want to go to the forest to do penance".
Sudharson said to his father-in-law "Devi Gatyayani will not let us down we will pray to her she will show us the way". They prayed and Devi Durgamatha appeared before the kasi King and said "Until the end of the world Kasi will be a very holy place. I will be here as ganga-theerth (holy Ganges water) to wash away sins. I will be as 'Annapoorani' to see no one ever remains hungry. I will be as Visalakshi and Vishvaswar to safe guard the country from enemies". The king of Kasi did obeisance many times. Devi said: "Sudharson you are going to be the king of Ayodhi. All your enemies will be destroyed by me. You should rule your country wisely. you should make people aware of me. I will look after you and your contry."
Accordingly sudharson's enemies were destroyed and he became the King of Ayodhi for a long time.
Kasi kshetram remains a very holy place to this day.
Once Vishnu did penance to Lord Siva to bring Ganga down to the earth. But Ganga did not come. So Maha-vishnu dug a well with his disk (Chakra) at the place where Devi Gatyayani's ear-ring fell. He sweated like a water fall and the water filled the well. Hence it was called 'Chakra-Pushkarni'.
Later Siva and Parvathi heard about the beauty of 'Chakra pushkarni'. So they came down to see the place. Siva saw Vishnu was in deep penance. Siva shook his head in appreciation of Sri Vishnu's penance. Surprisingly Lord siva's ear-ring (Kundalam) fell in 'Chakra-pushkarni'.
It is said that this incident was enacted only to show the people that Hari and Siva are one and the same.
From that time The 'Chakara-Pushkarni' is called 'Mani-karnikai'
A variation of this story is as follows: To know about the devi's ear-ring Siva went to kasi to ask vishnu who showed the well that he had created with his disk. Siva peeped into the well and unexpectedly his earring (kundalam) fell into the well. With this incident Siva was very sad and disappeared.
At that moment there was a very bright light from the well and a Siva Lingam appeared. Because the earrings of Siva and Sakthi both fell in the same place the lingam came out as 'SivaSakthi-Ikiya-rupam'.
All gods were very happy and Vishnu took the lingam and installed it in a holy place. Siva was delighted and showed his 'Viswa-roopam' to Vishnu. Then Vishnu prayed to Siva to send Ganga to the earth . He further prayed that when devotees take a dip into the river all their sins should be wiped off and Lord shive should bestow his blessings on them. Siva said "So be it". Because of this Devi Dhakshayini is here as Vishalakshi and her consort Siva is named as 'Visveswar'.
The king Doorvasindu was ruling over the kingdom of Ayodya. He had two wives. The first wife's name was Manoramy and the second wife's name was Sasikala. Manoramy and Sasikala gave birth to a male child each.
The King Doorvasindu was very happy that he got two sons. The king celebrated the naming ceremony of the children in a grand manner. Manoramy's son was named Sudharsan and Sasikala's son was called Satrujit.
Satrujit was very handsome, clever and lucky. Hence the king was very affectionate towards him. But Sudharson was not so very lucky. The king was not very fond of this son.
One day the king when he was hunting wild animals a lion attacked him and he died.
After the king's death ceremonies were all over they were thinking who would be the next king.
The people of kingdom wanted sudharsan to be crowned the king
But Satrujit's grand-father king Yudhajit of Ujjaini wanted his grandson to be the king. At the same time Sudharson's grand-father Veerasena the king of Kalinga also wanted his grand-son to be the king.
All people of Ayodya and the ministers were in a confused state. The issue could not be resolved. A war broke out.
Atlast the king Yudhajit killed Veerasena the king of Kalinga and Satrujit became the king of Ayodya. with Yudhajit as the guardian of his grand-son.
Manoramy was worried about the Ujjayini king. She feared that the cruel king might kill her son Sudharson also.
Hence she left the kingdom with her son immediatly with help of her trusted ministers and friends.She was walking with her son Sudharson aimlessly. Fortunately she met Sage Baratwaja.She told him her sad story The Sage took pity on her and her son and they stayed with him in the Ashram as it was a safe place to live in. Sudharson grew up in the ashram.
When Sudrasan was about five years old the sage's son called sudharson as 'Hai Kleepa'(means innocent).Sudarson liked this word so much that from that minute he went on chanting Kleem, Kleem,Kleem,(This is Devi's Beejaksharam) always.
Years passed. The Sage educated Sudarson in basics of sastras and arts. But Sudarson perfected all these sasthras by himself. He got all the powers (sakthi) even when he was young. He cultivated a bright personality and a very brave nature.
One day he was walking on the banks of the river when Devi appeared before him. She gave him arrows, a bow and the 'vajrakavacha'(armour) and blessed him.
Sudharson was very happily and returning home he happened to see a princess - the daughter of the king of Kasi.The Princess' name was Sasikala.She fell in love with him at first sight.
One day when the princess was sleeping Devi came in her dream and told her "Sasikala, Sudharson is my devotee. If you marry him he will be a very good husband to you and he will look after you very well". Next day Sasikala met her mother and told her about the dream and she wanted to marry him.
Sasikala's mother informed the king about their daughter's love to Sudharson. But the king did not agree to the match immediately. The King sent a trustworthy person to Sage Bharadwaj's asram and asked him to enquire about Sudharson. Few weeks later the king came to know that Sudarson was king Doorvasindu's son and also why he and his mother were living in Sage Baradwaja's asram through the spy he had sent.
The king explained about sudharson's position to his daughter and he said he would not agree to her marrying a poor man.
He did not leave the matter there. The king sent invitations to all the kingdoms inviting princes for the Iccha-suyamvaram (selection of the bride-groom) and he arranged this in a grand manner.
But Sasikala did not want to marry any one other than Sudharsan.Stubbornly she did not come to 'suyamvaram' Palace.The king was very sad and upset about Sasikala's adamant nature.He apologized to the assembled princes.But they were all very angry with the king and thought the king wantonly disrespected them.
The king of kasi could not bear seeing his daughter unhappy. Hence he agreed to her marrying Sudharson. But the marriage was performed at night time.
All other kings and princes came to know that Sasikala's marriage was over.They were very angry and were waiting for the sun to rise to fight with the king. He was worried what would happen next morning. The king said to sudharson's mother "Raja madha I have finished my daughter's marraige without any body knowing about it. But there will be a very big war So I want to go to the forest to do penance".
Sudharson said to his father-in-law "Devi Gatyayani will not let us down we will pray to her she will show us the way". They prayed and Devi Durgamatha appeared before the kasi King and said "Until the end of the world Kasi will be a very holy place. I will be here as ganga-theerth (holy Ganges water) to wash away sins. I will be as 'Annapoorani' to see no one ever remains hungry. I will be as Visalakshi and Vishvaswar to safe guard the country from enemies". The king of Kasi did obeisance many times. Devi said: "Sudharson you are going to be the king of Ayodhi. All your enemies will be destroyed by me. You should rule your country wisely. you should make people aware of me. I will look after you and your contry."
Accordingly sudharson's enemies were destroyed and he became the King of Ayodhi for a long time.
Kasi kshetram remains a very holy place to this day.
Once Vishnu did penance to Lord Siva to bring Ganga down to the earth. But Ganga did not come. So Maha-vishnu dug a well with his disk (Chakra) at the place where Devi Gatyayani's ear-ring fell. He sweated like a water fall and the water filled the well. Hence it was called 'Chakra-Pushkarni'.
Later Siva and Parvathi heard about the beauty of 'Chakra pushkarni'. So they came down to see the place. Siva saw Vishnu was in deep penance. Siva shook his head in appreciation of Sri Vishnu's penance. Surprisingly Lord siva's ear-ring (Kundalam) fell in 'Chakra-pushkarni'.
It is said that this incident was enacted only to show the people that Hari and Siva are one and the same.
From that time The 'Chakara-Pushkarni' is called 'Mani-karnikai'
A variation of this story is as follows: To know about the devi's ear-ring Siva went to kasi to ask vishnu who showed the well that he had created with his disk. Siva peeped into the well and unexpectedly his earring (kundalam) fell into the well. With this incident Siva was very sad and disappeared.
At that moment there was a very bright light from the well and a Siva Lingam appeared. Because the earrings of Siva and Sakthi both fell in the same place the lingam came out as 'SivaSakthi-Ikiya-rupam'.
All gods were very happy and Vishnu took the lingam and installed it in a holy place. Siva was delighted and showed his 'Viswa-roopam' to Vishnu. Then Vishnu prayed to Siva to send Ganga to the earth . He further prayed that when devotees take a dip into the river all their sins should be wiped off and Lord shive should bestow his blessings on them. Siva said "So be it". Because of this Devi Dhakshayini is here as Vishalakshi and her consort Siva is named as 'Visveswar'.
Om Sakthi
Location
Varanasi is in Utter-pradesh.
Varanasi is in Utter-pradesh.
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