Not many know of Shiva’s south Indian love affair, which unfortunately did not find success. However, it bore fruit in a different way and resulted in the Kailash of the South or Thenkalayam.
Shiva is often described as unemotional. However we describe him as, the very opposite is also the truth. This dispassionate yogi once turned into a passionate lover.
You must be thinking how is it even possible !! Read on …
Punyakshi, a woman of great perception, lived in the southern part of India. She developed a desire for Shiva and aspired to hold his hand as his wife. She had decided that she would marry only him and no one else.
Punyakshi started to work towards making her capable and suitable to draw Shiva’s attention. She remained absolutely focused upon him every moment of her life; her devotion crossed all boundaries and her austerities crossed all levels of sanity.
Seeing the intensity of her passion, Shiva’s compassion and love were moved. He reciprocated her love and was willing to marry her. But the village in which Punyakshi lived was worried. They believed that if Punyakshi married, she would lose her abilities to foresee the future and to protect and guide them. They did everything possible to stop this marriage. But nothing could move Punyakshi from her determination and her devotion towards Shiva.
Shiva responded passionately, and the date of her wedding was fixed. He set off towards the south. But the people of her community were against the marriage so they appealed to Shiva, not to marry her. But Shiva was determined to marry her. Hence, he continued to proceed towards the wedding.
The community elders stopped him and said, “If you want to marry this girl, there are some conditions.”
Shiva asked, “What are those conditions?”
They listed out three conditions,
- We want a sugarcane without rings
- We want a beetle leaf without veins
- And we want a coconut without eyes.
All these are unnatural. A sugarcane always comes with rings, there is no beetle leaf without veins, and there cannot be a coconut without eyes. It was an impossible and a sure way of stopping the wedding.
Shiva was very passionate about Punyakshi and wanted to marry her at any cost. In his pursuit, he brought forth his mystical force, and magical capabilities and by breaking the laws of nature, he created all these three objects. Having fulfilled the demands made of him, he proceeded towards the wedding.
But then, the community elders put one last condition on Shiva. “You must be married before the sun rises tomorrow morning. If you are late, you cannot marry the girl,” they said.
Hearing this, Shiva accelerated towards south India. He covered the distance at a rapid pace and was sure that he would reach Punyakshi on time. The community elders saw that Shiva was overcoming all the impossible conditions they had fixed and would fulfil his promise to Punyakshi. They began to worry again.
As Shiva was hurrying on his journey, he reached to a place, known today as Suchindram, which was just a few kilometres away from the place of the wedding. He saw the sun coming up! He could not believe it. He had failed in his mission! But it was the community elders playing their final trick; they had decided to create a false sunrise. They gathered together a huge mound of camphor and set it on fire. The camphor burned so bright and intense that when Shiva saw it from a distance, he thought the sun was coming up and that he had failed in his mission. He was so close – just a few kilometres away – but he was deceived into thinking that the time was up and that he had not been able to keep his word to Punyakshi.
There, Punyakshi was preparing for her grand wedding with Shiva, completely unaware of her community’s efforts to ruin the wedding. When the real sunrise broke upon the skyline, she realized that Shiva was not coming. She became furious. She kicked and broke all the pots which were full of food prepared for the celebration, and in anger, she went to the edge of the land and stood there. She was an accomplished yogini and standing there at the very edge of the subcontinent, she left her body. Even today, there is a temple on the spot where she left her body; that place is known as Kanyakumari.
Shiva thought he had failed Punyakshi and was so hopeless and upset with himself. He turned around and began walking back. But because of the anger within him, he needed a place to sit down and work out his misery. He went up the Velliangiri Mountain and sat on the peak. He stayed there for a some time and the Mountain imbibed his energy which is very different from anywhere else.
Traditionally, any place that Shiva stayed for a certain period was called Kailash. This mountain is called the Kailash of South India or Thenkalayam.