Poosalaar Naayanaar – Kannada
Story of Poosalaar Naayanaar
Naayanaars are saints of Tamil Nadu who are devoted to God Shiva. They are known for their steadfast devotion to Lord Shiva and have influenced the Bhakti movement.
Poosalaar Naayanaar of Tiruninravur near Chennai, was one such great saint who extolled the virtues of Smaranam. His lifelong desire was to construct a beautiful temple for his beloved Lord, Shiva. Alas! he was a poor man who did not have money to buy even bricks. His desire to build the temple was so overpowering that he decided to build one in his mind. Such was his devotion!
He began to study various spiritual texts to understand the protocols of building a temple. He then started building the temple in his mind. One doesn’t need money or manpower to build a temple in one’s mind. All that is needed is, single pointed devotion to one’s beloved Lord! One day he built a few walls, the next day the entrance, then the doors, the sanctum sanctorum and so on. This continued for many days until he finished building the beautiful temple…..all in his mind. The next step was to decide the inauguration day in order to perform the Kumbabhishekam. Of course, this also would be grandly performed in his mind! Poosalar decided upon an auspicious date for this ceremony.
Meanwhile, in Kancheepuram there was a pallava King named Rajasimha. He was a very wealthy king and had constructed a grand temple for Lord Kailasanatha. He too decided upon a date for performing the Kumbabhishekam which coincidentally was the same date as the date fixed by Poosalar for his imaginary temple! One night, King Rajasimha had a dream in which Lord Shiva appeared before him and expressed His inability to attend the inauguration ceremony of the King’s temple as the Lord had to attend the Kumbabhishekam of another devotee, Poosalar in Tiruninravur.
The King woke up the next day feeling very disappointed and heartbroken. He also wanted to go and see for himself the temple constructed by Poosalar. He thought that the temple must be more grand than his own as the Lord had decided to go there instead of coming to his temple. Without wasting anymore time, the King went to Tiruninravur. Upon reaching the village, the King made enquiries only to find out that Poosalar was a learned scholar but a very poor man. Out of curiosity he went to meet Poosalar to find out about his temple. Poosalar told the King that he had built the temple in his mind as he did not have any funds. And yes, he had decided to perform Kumbabhishekam as well, in his mind.
The King was stunned to see Poosalar’s bhakti and determination! He was a poor man yet determined to fulfil his dream. No wonder the Lord was drawn towards Poosalar’s invitation! The King ordered his men to build Poosalar’s temple right in the place imagined by Poosalar and to follow every plan and design decided by Poosalar.
Poosalar was too moved for words. With tears of joy he thanked Lord Shiva for making his dream come true. This temple stands tall even today on Tiruninravur and is called as the “Hridayaleeswarar” Temple which means the Lord of the heart! Lord Shiva is fondly addressed here as Hridayaleeswarar.