No pilgrim should fail to mark attendance at the shrine
of Bhogar in the southwestern corridor of the temple. He
it was who created the navabhashana image and consecrated
the deity.
God
is believed to have appeared to saints in certain forms.
These are forms made to appear to them by His grace or rather
they are outward symbols of His mercy as omnipresent, but
assumes certain forms at certain times just as sea-water
sometimes takes the form of an iceberg.
Bhogar
is believed to have lived in the beginning of Kali Yuga,
i.e. before 3,000 B.C. and traveled widely in the Near-
and Far East. He is said to have been a rare mathematical
prodigy, a diplomat of great calibre and an expert in the
field of medicine. He realised the importance of Muruga
worship and conferred with siddhars on the form in which
Muruga's image should be installed atop the hill. He created
the amalgam of nine chemicals and did daily services.
Bhogar's
body rests here. The image of Nava Dûrgâ or
Bhûvanesvari and the Maragadha (emerald) Siva Lingam
worshipped by him are found here. An underground passage
is said to link the sanctum sanctorum with the Bhogar shrine.
