The god of death is worshipped here!

[V.Balasubramani]

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The god of death is worshipped here!

On ‘Yama Dwitheeya,’ devotees make a beeline for the shrine at Dharmapuri

Have you ever heard of devotees worshipping Lord Yama Dharmaraja, the God of Death! Sounds strange but it is a fact.

Devotees from various parts of the State and other parts of the country make a beeline for the Sri Laxminarasimha Swamy devasthanam in Dharmapuri of Karimnagar district to offer prayers to Lord Yama, the God of Death on the occasion of ‘Yama Dwitheeya’ on Saturday.

This ancient and historic temple shrine houses a temple for Lord Yama Dharmaraja also. Devotees visiting the shrine offer prayers to the Lord Yama regularly. But, on Saturday, which is also auspicious ‘Yama Dwitheeya,’ the devotees offer special prayers to Yama. Thousands of devotees thronged the temple shrine to offer prayers to Lord Yama after taking a holy dip in the Godavari. The devotees poured oil in ‘Ganda Deepam’ to get rid of their sorrows and sufferings. They also performed special pujas such as ‘Ayoosha sooktham’ for longevity and good health. Dharmapuri Temple priest Ramesh Sharma said Yama Dwitheeya is celebrated on the second day after the Diwali festival, marking the visit of Lord Yama to his sister Yamuna Devi’s house for lunch. Yama promises his sister that people who offer prayers on this day would not go to hell and they would get rid of all sorrows and sufferings. Similarly, it is believed that people having ‘Bhagini-hastha’ (food served by one’s sister) on this day would enjoy longevity and cleansed of their sins, he said.

Source: The god of death is worshipped here! - The Hindu

 

[vikrama]

The worship of Yama is nothing new. In fact, many siva temples contain a special niche for Yama. For example Dandeeswaram in Velachery, Chennai. Thiruvarur. Thiruppaingeeli. Many kshetras have a tank dedicated to Yama like the yama theertham in Karuvili, near Thiruvarur.
Saivism is an offshoot of Yama worship who was called Sudalai Madan. The Cauvery delta areas saw the emergence of Saivism at the cost of Yama worship, which still lingers in the southern districts.
Bharani and Magha are the favourite stars of Yama.
In Srivanchiam, Bharani of Chitrai month is celebrated. There Yama is worshipped as kshetrapala, which means the original inhabitant of the place.
More about yama worship in 'Vadamum Saivamum' which can be downloaded in your pcs/ mobiles from freetamilebooks.com

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Sir,

Thanks for the information.

 

[JR]

I've also heard of temple for Chitragupta.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

While there are so many temples for other Gods, why Yamaraja has only few temples viz at Kancheepuram, Coimbatore, Thiruchittrambalam at Thanjavur, Srivanchiyam, etc??

 

[vikrama]

While there are so many temples for other Gods, why Yamaraja has only few temples viz at Kancheepuram, Coimbatore, Thiruchittrambalam at Thanjavur, Srivanchiyam, etc??

Sudalai madan was one of the folk gods of ancient Tamilnadu. When Saivism was propagated by Laguleesa Pasupatha people, the new religion absorbed many traits of the local deity. The weapon called Kanichi or Mazhu originally belonged to Sudalai madan. So also living in the burning ghat. Madan's temples are even now surrounded by banyan trees. Dakshinamurthy facing south and sitting under a banyan tree are the traits of Madan borrowed by Siva. Siva is called the god of destruction among the trinity.
Sudalai Madan is worshipped in an image which has a tapering rectangular base and a hemisphere above it. This could have been the prototype of the later day lingams.
With the increase in the popularity of Siva, the worship of Yama decreased. This is symbolically indicated in the story of Markandeya. Yama gets defeated at the feet of Siva.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Sudalai madan was one of the folk gods of ancient Tamilnadu. When Saivism was propagated by Laguleesa Pasupatha people, the new religion absorbed many traits of the local deity. The weapon called Kanichi or Mazhu originally belonged to Sudalai madan. So also living in the burning ghat. Madan's temples are even now surrounded by banyan trees. Dakshinamurthy facing south and sitting under a banyan tree are the traits of Madan borrowed by Siva. Siva is called the god of destruction among the trinity.
Sudalai Madan is worshipped in an image which has a tapering rectangular base and a hemisphere above it. This could have been the prototype of the later day lingams.
With the increase in the popularity of Siva, the worship of Yama decreased. This is symbolically indicated in the story of Markandeya. Yama gets defeated at the feet of Siva.

Sir,

The above information is quite interesting. I also believe that there is not much slokas on Yamaraja unlike other deities. Why?

 

[JR]

This is actually a very interesting question. Why Yamadharmaraja is not worshipped like other deities? I think that to remove fear of death (yama bhayam), it would be very nice to have a Yamaraja stotra to recite. But, on the same note, I became curious why the other well-known gods of Hinduism, namely the ashtadik-balakas, Lord Indra, are not worshipped. Indra, as I learnt, is an even more powerful deity than Sri Vishnu, as depicted in the Rig Veda. Why then there is no temple for Indra?

 

[V.Balasubramani]

There seems to be no separate temple for God Indira in India. But google search reveals that there is a dedicated temple for Indra at Indonesia.

But as for temples for Astadik balakas, there is a temple for God Kubera at Rathnamangalam near Vandalur and is called as ‘Lakshmi Kuberar temple’.

Source: http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=709

 

[JR]

There seems to be no separate temple for God Indira in India. But google search reveals that there is a dedicated temple for Indra at Indonesia.

But as for temples for the Astadik balakas, there is a temple for God Kubera at Rathnamangalam near Vandalur and is called as ‘Lakshmi Kubera temple’.

Source: Satyanathaswami Temple : Satyanathaswami Temple Details | Satyanathaswami- Kancheepuram | Tamilnadu Temple | ?????????

Oh Wow! Very interesting to know!