There are 'puranas' for every altar in a large temple site. It's too much for me to record each, but I do try to find one for the most important [mulaMurthi?]
> Then there are ideas derived from the name of the tirtham, > such as Kalahasti's elephant, spider, nag.
many like kurankanil mutram from monkey, kurangadu thurai etc.
thirvadanai from aadu and yanai ( goat and elephant)
valithayam( padi madras) from valiyan or black sparrow.
> I'll try to look up some of the more unusual ones. > Kathie > > > > > > Dear Kathie, puranic tales are not set in stone (no pun > > intended!!) > > > > - they evolve with time and with the nature of people around them. > > > > For example the Mahabharat evolved from the original 3500 > > verses to > > > > over 95000 verses. Ramayana has evolved all over south east > > asia in > > > > various forms. In those days people got credit and respect from > > how > > > > they were quoted in poems and stories, so if you need to be > > > > remembered it was a way to add your story to a bigger story in > > some > > > > form or shape or another. > > > > > > > > If you look into historical origins versus puranic origins of > > > > temples (what is called Thala puranams) you will find lot of > > > > contradictions that way. But that said, again for the average > > hindu > > > > many puranic characters are real as the person next to them. As > > > > long as this is what they call love or Bhakti yoga and not dogma, > > > > it is wonderful and we can talk of these as real all day long. > > > > > > > > Malathi > > >