Thread by @gowkinkara

Bedtime story:
There was a great muni with tremendous tapo shakti called MADHYANDINA MUNI. His only son, after the upanayana samskara, gets panchakshari upadesa from his father, which he does japa with all bhakti. Pleased with his bhakti, MADHYANDINA muni, asks his son what he +

Needs as a boon. To this he asks him to teach him that which will liberate him from the cycle of birth and death . Amazed by his maturity, MADHYANDINA muni tells him to go and meditate in the deep forests of TILLA VANAM, which is the mooladhara kshetra of the earth. He leaves+

Immediately to the dense forests of TILLA VANAM, and on the banks of a lake filled with lotuses called SHIVA GANGA, he finds a linga at the root of a huge tree called the MULASHTANA LINGA. He makes that place his abode and does a deep penance. Shiva appears pleased with his +

penance and asks him what he wishes. To this he replies, that Everyday, he would go to the dense Forest to collect flowers, and bilva for the pooja of shiva. But as it was a dense forest, it was filled with fog and the branches of trees would become slippery and because of which

He isn't able to collect intact flowers and bilva for pooja. And hence asks Shiva for hands and legs like that of a tiger. Astonished by his wish, shiva asks you could have asked for anything, even mukti, why this wish? To this he replies that all he wants is to delve in Shiva's

Thought, and do japa of him, and when that means SAMEEPYA MUKTI ,to him, why would he need anything else. Amazed by his devotion, Shiva grants the same, and gives him the name VYAGHRA PADA. The place where he did penance is called VYAGHRA PURAM or CHIDAMBARAM.
This story is a +

Representation of AVYAJA BHAKTI, where nothing else other than bhagawan matters. It is this profound bhakti that made VYAGHRAPADA, a part of the sabha of Ananda Tandava of Shiva, which even Devatas are not eligible to be in. The shivalinga, which was made and worshipped by +

VYAGHRAPADA is still in CHIDAMBARAM as VYAGHRAPADESHWARA LINGAM, and is an extremely powerful temple. We can see VYAGHRAPADA in depiction of SHIVA TANDAVA, along with Patanjali.