Kubera is the Hindu God of money, wealth and material possessions. Kubera does not create wealth but he is believed to be the one who distributes wealth wisely among deserving devotees.

In Hindu Scriptures, Kubera is the chief of the Yakshas and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Once he performed penance for several years and Lord Shiva along with his consort Goddess Parvathi gave dharshan to Kubera. Kubera had not seen Goddess Parvati before and was astounded by the splendor and beauty of Goddess Parvathi who was bedecked with jewels. Goddess Parvati mistook Kubera’s staring for lust and she cursed him that one of his eyes should explode.

Poor Kubera was now left with only one eye and he then explained that he had no bad or lustful intention and that he had stared because he was dazzled by such beautiful gold ornaments the like of which he had never seen before. Goddess Parvati realized her mistake and immediately the one eye that Kubera had lost grew back but remained smaller than the other one. Shiva also made Kubera one of the Ashta Dikpalakas (the cardinal deities of the eight directions) and he thus governs the Northern direction. Goddess Parvati made him the god of wealth and material possessions as atonement for her curse.

There is another legend which says that Kubera is the grandson of Brahma. He is also believed to be Vaisharavana who was the brother of Ravana. But Ravana defeated him and took his Pushpak chariot and exiled him to Kailash. It is here that he did penance and received the blessings of Shiva.

Kubera is often portrayed with a vessel studded with Navratnas (nine gems). He is also shown as showering gold. There are numerous legends associated with Kubera and the most popular one is associated with Lord Balaji or Venkateswara. It is said that Lord Balaji took a loan from Kubera to marry Goddess Lakshmi on earth. But the condition set was that Lord Balaji could not leave the earth until he paid back the debt. It is believed that till today Lord Balaji is paying interest on that loan to Kubera. And devotees donate liberally to help Lord Balaji repay his debt.

Kubera lingam shrine on the Arunachala Girivalam can be found about a few hundred metres before the Panchamukham. It is believed that Lord Kubera himself came here and worshipped Arunachala in order to maintain his wealth and prosperity. Hence a Shiva lingam was installed and consecrated here at this point which is situated exactly north from the mountain. Many devotees throng here with the hope that they become rich like Kubera, not understanding the true spiritual significance of wealth.

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