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The story delves into the origin of Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, intertwining the roles of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, and their sons, Kartikeya and Ganesha, as they embark on a journey of love, competition, cleverness, and divine blessings.
Characters in the story:
Lord Shiva: Lord Shiva holds significant prominence in Hinduism as a prominent deity, revered for his role as the vanquisher of malevolence and the catalyst of universal change. Depicted in various forms, he is often portrayed as a tranquil ascetic engaged in deep meditation or as the divine dancer, adorned with a third eye, an entwined serpent around his neck, and a trident grasped firmly in his hand.
Goddess Parvati: Goddess Parvati is a prominent deity in Hinduism, known as the divine mother and the consort of Lord Shiva. She represents feminine power, fertility, love, and devotion, and is worshiped for her nurturing and compassionate nature.
Lord Ganesh: Lord Ganesh, also known as Ganapati, is a Hindu deity who is revered as the remover of obstacles and the god of new beginnings, wisdom, and intellect. He is depicted with the head of an elephant and is widely worshiped across India and beyond.
Lord Kartikeya: Lord Kartikeya, also known as Murugan, is a revered deity in Hinduism, widely regarded as the divine commander of the gods and the embodiment of valor, courage, and wisdom. He is the son of Lord Shiva.
Mallikarjuna’s uniqueness is due to the fact that both Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are present here as the Jyotirlinga. Mallikarjuna is an amalgamation of two words, wherein ‘Mallika’ refers to Goddess Parvati, and ‘Arjuna’ is one of the many names of Lord Shiva.
Mallikarjuna is also one among the 52 Shakti Peethas. When Lord Shiva danced the dance of destruction with the burnt body of his spouse, Goddess Sati, Maha Vishnu cut the body into pieces using his Sudarshana Chakra. These pieces fell onto the earth and formed an important place of worship for the followers of Shakti. These places are revered as Shakti Peethas. It is said that the upper lip of the Goddess Sati fell on to the earth at Mallikarjuna.
The story of the origin of Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga begins when Kartikeya and Ganesha get into an argument about who amongst them should get married first. As they are not able to resolve the matter within themselves they approach their parents Shiva and Parvati. Shiva proposes a contest that whoever is able to circumnavigate the world and return back first will be considered the winner and will be married first.
Kartikeya thinks that he will easily win this contest as his ride, the peacock, is much faster than Ganesha’s mouse. He immediately gets on his peacock and rushes ahead. Ganesha looks at his brother departing and stays fixed, pondering over the situation. After a while, he gets on top of his mouse and starts going around Shiva and Parvati. After completing the circle around his parents, Ganesha gets off the mouse. Shiva asks him what was he doing, to which Ganesha replies that he was asked to go around the world, and he considers his parents his whole world, which is why he went around them.
Shiva and Parvati are really impressed by Ganesha’s clever response and get him married to Riddhi (which signifies Prosperity) and Siddhi (which signifies Spirituality). This is the reason people looking for financial prosperity pray to Ganesha and all religious functions and ceremonies are initiated by invoking Ganesha first.
When Kartikeya returns to his home in Mount Kailash he finds out that his parents got Ganesha married. He feels Ganesha has cheated him and feels resentful that his parents did not object to the trickery by Ganesha. In his anger, he leaves his home and moves far away in the southern direction till he reaches Mount Kraunch.
Shiva and Parvati are really saddened by this incident and go to visit Kartikeya in Mount Kraunch. On seeing them approach the mountain, Kartikeya moves a bit further southwards but is stopped by the gods, who convince him not to go too far.
Shiva and Parvati stay on top of Mount Kraunch and visit Kartikeya one by one. Shiva visits him on Amavasya night and Parvati visits him on Poornima. This sequence continues for a while. As Shiva and Parvati appeared together on this site it is considered highly auspicious, and it is considered that even if a person just looks at the mountain top he will be freed from his sorrows.
Every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit Mallikarjuna temple as it considered to grant you prosperity instantly and make your sorrows disappear. Praying to the jyotirlinga inside the temple is considered as effective as performing an Ashwamedha Yagya, which was performed by kings in the ancient times. It is believed that the temple in it’s current architecture with the famous Gopuram dome was constructed by Chalukya kings. This temple holds special significance for Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.
