INTRODUCTION
Veerabhadra is an avatar of Lord Shiva. He was created by Lord Shiva in order to teach a lesson for Lord Daksha, who had insulted Lord Shiva and avoided him for the Yagna conducted by him.
Sati was the daughter of Daksha. At her younger age, due to the holiness of Lord Shiva, she loved Lord Shiva and decided to marry him.She married Lord Shiva with the displeasure of Lord Daksha. Daksha doesn’t like Lord Shiva due to his strange appearance. His holy appearance was not liked by him, and he ignored him in all the activities.
Once, Daksha performed a grand yagna, inviting all the demi gods and excluded Lord Shiva. But his wife Sati, attended the yagna due to the affection on her father. Daksha insulted her by speaking badly about Lord Shiva. She could not tolerate her father’s words, and she self immolated herself in yagna agni.
When Shiva came to know about the incidents, he created Lord Veerabhadra and Bhadrakali from his hair. Veerabhadra appeared in a ferocious form along with his consort Bhadra Kali.
Shiva ordered Veerabhadra to destroy the Yagna of Daksha. He attacked all the demi gods and other devas with his powerful weapons and destroyed the entire place with the help of Bhadra Kali. Finally he chopped the head of Lord Daksha, and due to his wife’s prayers, he placed a goat’s head in the body of daksha and brought him back alive.
After fulfilling the wishes of Lord Shiva, Veerabhadra andBhadra Kali went back to Mount Kailash, and merged with Lord Shiva. He was a great avatar of Lord Shiva, who was worshiped all over india.
FAMOUS TEMPLES
- Veerabhadraswamy temple, Kothakonda, Telangana.
- Veerabhadraswamy temple, Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh.
- Veerabhadraswamy temple, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh.
- Veerabhadraswamytemple,Muramalla, Andhra Pradesh.
- Veerabhadraswamy temple, Belagavi district, Karnataka.
- Veerabhadreswarar temple, Humnabad, Karnataka.
- Veerabhadreswaraswamy temple, Hiriydaka, Karnataka.
IMPORTANCE
Apart from individual temples, his shrines are located in many shiva temples. He is worshipped as a guardian deity and also a giver of happiness and relieves fear from our mind. He will also strengthen our mind and body and invoke us into the bhakti path. Several slokas are meant for Lord Veerabhadra. By reciting the slokas, we will be free from fear and unwanted and suicidal thoughts will be removed from our mind.
Let us worship the great god Veerabhadraswamy and Mata Kali Devi and be blessed.
“OM SREE VEERABHADRARE NAMAHA”
“OM SREE BHADRAKALI DEVIYE NAMAHA”
“OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”
WRITTEN BY R.HARISHANKAR
