History of 'The Sacred Caaral' (Hymn in THIRUVASAGAM)

 🌹🌹History of The Sacred Caaral (Thiruchaazhal) (Hymn in THIRUVASAGAM) 🌹🌹

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In Sri Lanka (Ceylon) there was an ascetic who was constantly repeating ‘Long Live Ponnambalam’. The king of the place could not understand this, as he was a Buddhist, and had called the ascetic to him. The ascetic went to the palace and sat down in front of the king with the same words! Upon being asked by the king to explain the meaning, the ascetic said: ‘Oh king, Ponnambalam is a sacred place in the Chola kingdom. This place is also called Chidambaram. Here the Formless God takes a Form, of Nataraja, the divine dancer, for the welfare of the world. The object of His dance is to free the souls from the clutches of Maya.

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The Buddhist Guru who heard all this questioned: ‘Oh king, how can there be a God other than Lord Buddha? I shall myself go to Chidambaram and defeat the Saivite in argument and convert the temple into a Buddhist shrine😐.’ So saying he left for Tillai. The king🤴🏻 also accompanied him, with his dumb daughter👧🏻. 

The Saivites sent a message to the Chola king asking him to arrange a debate with the Buddhists when the latter had arrived at Chidambaram. The day prior to the appointed day, the Brahmins prayed to Lord Nataraja for success in the debate. That night the Lord appeared in their dream and said: ‘Approach Vadavurar (Manickavasagar) and request him to oppose the Buddhist Guru in argument’😇. 

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The next morning, the Brahmins approached Vadavurar who readily agreed. He went to the temple, worshipped the Lord, and entered the hall of the debate. He did not like to see the face of the Buddhists: so, he sat behind a curtain. The Buddhists opened the debate. Manickavasagar explained the principles of Saivism. The Buddhists could not offer counter-arguments🙂. They went on repeating their arguments!🤬 Manickavasagar prayed to the Lord for help. At His instance, Devi Sarasvathi withdrew Her grace from the Buddhists, and they became dumb. The Buddhists were defeated in argument. 

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The Buddhist king🤴🏻 understood Manickavasagar’s greatness. He said: "You have made my teacher and all his disciples dumb. If you can make my dumb daughter👧🏻 speak, I and my subjects will embrace Saivism." Manickavachagar asked him to bring his daughter. He prayed to the Lord for His help and then asked the girl to give proper answer to the questions put by the Buddhist Guru on Lord Shiva. The dumb daughter not only began to speak but gave fitting answers to those questions. These are compiled as the 12th hymn in THIRUVASAGAM named 'The Sacred Caaral'.They were all wonder-struck at this miracle. The king and the Buddhists recognised the superiority of Saivism and embraced it. Manickavasagar restored speech to the Buddhists also.