Significance of Pradhosham


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The Dhevas wished to be immortal so as to oppose the Asuras. If they got the panacea called ‘Amirdham’ , they would fight against the mighty Asuras. But the divine medicine lay deep in the sea of milk.(Paarkadal) So they started churning the sea of milk. The snake Vasuki was used as the cord for churning and the mountain Meru was the chosen churn. Lord Vishnu in the form of Turtle served the base. The Dhevas and the Asuras stood on each side of the sea and started churning. The Dhevas , in their hurry to get the Amirdham had forgotten to worship Lord Siva. They thought that they could get the Amirdham merely by their own strength and efforts.



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This thought had made them forget the divine grace of Siva without which nothing could happen in this world. Due to the process of churning, Iravatham, Karpagam, Chinthamani SriLakshmi etc surfaced out of the sea of milk. But even then there was no sign of Amirdham. Even at that moment they did not think of Siva. Still they continued the churning process hardly knowing that they were opening the Pandaora’s box. Deadly Poison (aalakala nanju) started coming out of that sea. Both the parties were simply stupefied and feared that there was going to be mass killing due to the poison of very high power.

They were simply terrified. Now only did they realize their mistake of forgetting Lord Siva. Immediately they rushed to Him and fell down on His Feet and prayed to help them. It was enough that if they were saved from the effects of the poison, even if they could not get the panacea., they requested Him. It was a Dhasami Thithi when the sea of milk was churned. Siva was pleased by their prayers and drank the heavy poison the next day that is on the Ekathasi Thithi. for their welfare. Goddess Parvathi was very much shocked to find her spouse’s reckless act. Immediately She gently pressed the neck of Siva to prevent the poison from gliding down into the Lord’s body. The region of the neck became blue in colour due to the stagnated venom in the Ganta. Hence Siva is called, Neelagantan. This happened in a Saturday. The poison could not move down.

Due to its presence, Siva became tired and this happened on the immediate Dhuvadhasi Thithi. The Dheva groups were moved by the actions of Siva. So they again prayed to Him. Moved by their prayers, Lord Siva started performing the Dance called Anantha Thandavam between the two horns of Nandhi Dhevar. The time when Lord Siva performed this dance to protect his devotees’ distress was Pradhosha Kaalam i. e. between 4.30 pm and 6.00 pm in the evening. It occurred on the immediate Thirayodhasi Thithi day. Hence Pradhosham is the most auspicious period when Lord Siva saved his devotees from disaster by his readiness to sacrifice Himself.

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