Mystical India Unveiled: The Enchanting Eagle Legend of Thirukazhukundram Temple

A timeless legend from Ancient India.

It would sound like a story from the world of magical realism. But, this is not one out of fertile imagination, it is an event witnessed and recorded by many.

Now, before I start with the story, I need you, the reader, to understand and be suitably warned that it may demand some extra reading. Two of my friends from the Midlands of the UK had suggested that my earlier stories had references to Hindu mythology that were difficult for them to appreciate without scouring the internet. I decided to make it a little easier for them by adding references. You have to do your bit for friends who humor you by reading what you dish out. Here you go…..Mr Smythe and Mr Metcalfe

The town of Mahabalipuram, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, is famous for its shore temples. Overlooking the Bay of Bengal, these temples were believed to have been built in the 8th century AD.

15 kilometers away from this town lies a sprawling temple town. The town of Thirukazhukundram has stories to tell, both mystical and enchanting. Stories that encapsulate the ethos and culture of this ancient land.

The town has two distinct parts: a temple atop a hill and a scattering of many other temples at the foothills. The most significant of them is the Vedagiriswar temple, which is the one on the hilltop. It is a temple that is atop a set of four peaks, which signify the four Vedas.

Thiru-kazhgu-kundram, (which means sacred eagle mountain) is a typical temple town in India with a past that has many stories that have been passed on through time immemorial. The most interesting of these stories is as surreal as it gets.

The tale goes that two sages once undertook severe penance to please Lord Shiva with the aim of attaining the ultimate liberation, which in Vedic tradition is Sayujya. There are 5 stages of liberation (Moksh, as it is referred to) as per the Vedic literature, Sayuja being the last, the ultimate merger into the supreme. Pleased with their penance, Lord Shiva appeared before them. He, however, granted them the second stage of Moksh, Sarupya, with the promise to grant Sayujya later.

The sages were unimpressed and refused to accept the blessing. The Lord, equally unimpressed, cursed them to take the form of eagles as a punishment. The only way they could attain liberation from the life cycle was to worship the Lord till the end of Kaliyuga. (Hindu tradition details four yugas, or phases of the universe.)

Now don’t say I didn’t warn you about reading material…………………..

The Eagles arrive in search of salvation

Every afternoon for centuries, this temple at Thirukazhukundram has been witness to this tale of the curse and its absolution. The priest, after the morning rituals, steps out of the temple with a plate in hand. He labours his way up the rocky outcrop and sits down with the plate beside him. The plate holds the offering from the rituals, which is a sweet dish made out of milk, sugar, and rice. Very soon, a pair of eagles appear; they hover around and descend on to the hilltop.

Having landed, they approach the priest and eat the sweet offering out of his hands. They then clean their beaks in a bowl of water kept nearby and soar away. This has been happening for centuries, as confirmed by various references in documented history.

The eagles have been recorded as coming here for centuries. It is a scene that leaves more things unexplained than explained. The fact that a species that is carnivorous by nature partakes of sweet rice is as exotically mystical as it can get. To add to all this, it has always been only the two of them, never more than that.

This story has been played out for centuries as the cursed sages continued to serve out their punishment in search of ultimate liberation. The belief is that each of the yugas has a different set of eagles who carry the search over.

However, these eagles were last seen in 1998, after which they have not appeared.

So finally, after aeons of serving the sentence, have the sages finally attained Sayujya?

Many attribute their absence to the all-pervading impurity in the human soul and the presence of sinners around. After all, it is Kaliyuga. The current yuga, as per Hindu texts, is one of darkness, misery, and vice. (The Yuga of Kali, the demon)

For those who are less inclined to believe in the mystical world, the explanation is one that is scientific. The eagle population in the area and in India in general has declined to the point of extinction due to the chemicals used for farming, thus causing the disappearance of these eagles.

No matter how this seems to have ended, the way it has played out for centuries is a testimony to the existence of a mystical world that our human forms and senses are incapable of understanding.

=============================

Sudhir Bhattathiripad

=============================

Enjoying the stories? Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our blog today and get fresh insights, travel tales, and cultural gems delivered straight to your inbox. Stay inspired, stay connected