Muneeswaran

Muneeswarar (Tamil: முனீஸ்வரன்) is a Hindu god. He is worshipped as a family deity in several Shaivite families in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. His name is a combination of "Muni", meaning ''saint'', and "Ishvara", an epithet of Shiva. He is therefore an avatar of Shiva.

Worship

Muneeswarar is worshipped in Fiji, Karnataka, Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, Gudiyattam of Vellore district, and the northern part of Tamil Nadu in India, and more so in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname, where there are many temples dedicated to him. There are many small temples in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, where many Tamil-speaking people live. During the British colonial period, people brought the deity to Sri Lanka.

Since his weapon is the trident, Muneeswarar temples contain a trident placed in the ground. Lemons are often placed on the prongs of the trident. In most villages in India, the deity is a laid stone. When statues of Muneeswarar are used, they are painted with bright colors, in contrast to the black granite statues in other Indian temples. His statue is dressed in a dhoti, unlike the statues of other gods.

Muneeswarar is generally worshipped either as a fierce god or a peaceful god; those who worship his fierce form offer him animal sacrifices like lamb and chicken. It is also said that Muneeswaran has seven main qualities, thus he is worshipped in seven main forms, which are Shivamuni, Mahamuni, Thavamuni, Nadamuni, Jadamuni, Dharmamuni and Vazhamuni. Jadamuni is especially popular.

It is believed that Muneswarar along with his 7 forms came from Shiva's face their early worship is in the form of Natukkal where now they are worshipped in the form of statues the Muniswaran came from two words one is Muni which directly means Buddhist Monks or Rishis and also from Jain Sadhus while the word Eswaran came from Shiva so it directly means that the Sages who were died many years ago now their soul is being worshipped as a Holy Spirit these deities are also said to protect villages from any kind of danger these deities are also associated with Ashtangha Bhairava and why they're called Eswaran because many Munis where also came from Aghori Sadhus and Aghoris were actually believe to be reincarnation of Shiva.

See also

* Muniandi
* Karrupasami
* List of Hindu temples

References

External links

Muniswarar.com - Online Ayya Temple
* http://www.ruthrakali.org.sg/htmlfiles/muneeswaran.htm

Anbe Muneeswarar - site with a lot of information about Sri Muneeswarar
* http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/shakti-sadhana/445079-not-kateri-parmeshwari-dee-mata-2.html
* https://makemyservice.net/category/spiritual/

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Forms of Shiva
Tamil deities