Kubera Kalyanam

 

Sunday mornings are indeed interetsing what with the Tamil channels comepting to show us  different temples of Tamil Nadu.In today's divya darsanam it was the Kubera temple at   Rathnamangalam, Vandalur, Chennai..Very recently the marriage celebration of Lord Kubera and his consort Rithi also known as Chitralekha was celebrated.It was indeed divine as always.I did ofcourse note some interesting points that were mentioned by the compere.She mentioned that Chitra Pournima is actually celebrated to remember the marriage celebration of Lord Kubera.I found this actually very new.
Usually we have been always told by our elders that Chitirai Purnima is a Tamil ceremony observed on the Poornima day (full moon day) in the Tamil month of Chitirai (April – May).where Chitraguptan keeps an account of all our deeds. So NEVER TELL A LIE....Read on for the story in more detail.....

 Chitra Pournami ritual commemorates Chitragupta who according to the scripts is the assistant of Lord Yama, the God of Death. The day is also dedicated to Indra, the head of Devas. It is on this day that the star Chitra and full moon come together. Considered as Chitragupta’s Birthday, the Chitra Pournami
Chitragupta means collection of pictures. It is believed that Chitragupta examines the good and bad performances of the person. When a person dies, his soul first goes to Lord Yama, where Chitragupta tallies the deeds and report it to Yama. On this day, special poojas are conducted at temples and people take bath in holy rivers and temple ponds to wash away the sins committed. Chitragupta Temple at Kancheepuram is the only one temple in South India for Chitragupta. Thirukoteeswarar temple at Thirukodikaval, situated on the Kumbakonam-Mayiladuthurai route, has separate shrines for Chitragupta and Yama. In these temples, Chitra Pournami festival is celebrated in a grand manner every year.
Legend
There is a legend associated with Chitra Poornima involving Lord Indra, the king of Gods, and his Guru Brihaspati. Lord Indra and Brihaspati once had an argument. As Indra failed to respect Guru, he stopped advising Indra who started committing sins in the absence of Guru. Days passed and Brihaspathi returned to his duty. He advised Indra for a pilgrimage to the earth to lessen the burden of sins. During the pilgrimage, Indra realized that he had been redeemed from the sins. He found a Shiva lingam under a Kadamba tree and believed that Lord Shiva had helped him in relieving his sins. Following this, he started worshipping him. He worshipped Lord Shiva with a golden lotus which he found from a nearby pond.
This was believed to be happened on a Chitra Pournami day and the place was Madurai in South India. Devendra puja is held during Chitra Pournami day in Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, commemorating the event.
The Mangaladevi Temple located at Kumily in Idukki, Kerala also celebrated Chithra Pournami festival with much religious fervor. Mangala Devi Temple is build in Pandya style of architecture is dedicated to Kannagi or Kannaki Amman, the main character of the South Indian epic Silapathikaram. The temple is around 2000-years-old and remains closed for the entire year except for Chithra Pournami Festival. Hundreds of pilgrims from Kerala and the nearby state of Tamil Nadu visit the shrine during the festive occasion.

Now back to today's topic Lord Kubera.We all generally know the popular story that Lord Veknkateshwa(Tirupati Balaji) is said to have taken a loan from Kubera for his marriage which is still being repaid by way of the collections of the temple.
There are also other very popular stories  associated with Lord Kubera.
Kubera Yantra's are very popular these days.It is said that to keep the yantra in the pooja with faith and Bhakti will bring a lot of wealth and prosperity.The number yantra adds up to 72 either way and 7+2 =9 which is considered very auspicious and lucky.
Today's version was actually not only very very new to me but I did not manage to find a similar story online.Anyways there are always many versions to our mythological stories which we may not have heard.What I heard today was of course  a very interesting one and so thought will put it down right away.
Once again I must thank the TV channels for bringing right to our homes every Sunday morning a Divya Darsanam.
May Lord Kubera shower his blessings and grace on one and all.
Jai Gurudev.