All of us are familiar with the Matsya Avatarm, when Satyavrata (Vaivaswatha) Manu was rescued by Vishnu in the form of a Matsya from the floods on the east coast of India and taken up to the Himalayas along with the Saptarishis, along the Ganga. (This took place in the Krutha Yuga,) While some Ancient Indians went north with Satyavrata, many Ancient Indians also stayed back and survived the flood in the South itself.
(The flood of the bible purana is a kaliyuga flood (Year 998 of Kaliyuga) and should not be confused with these krutha yuga floods.)
Here is a sthala puranam from Tamil Nadu, which tells us how Ganesha saved some people : (Source)
Adi Ganesha or the Naramukha Ganesha (Human Face) at Ganapatheeshwaram in Tamilnadu. Source : Eka Akshara on Facebook.
Pralaya Katha Vinayaka :
During the Krita Yuga, Siva asked Ganesha to save the world from the Great Deluge or Pralaya caused during the gestation period of Rahu. (We will revisit this concept later.) Ganesha created a well on the east side of this temple tank and channeled all the 7 seas into that well and controlled the deluge and saved the world. This well is known as Yezhu Kadal Kinaru (7 Sea well). This village is known as Thirupurambiyam since during the great deluge, flood stopped away from this village. Thirupurambiyam is situated on the river side of Kollidam 11Kms away from Kumbakonam. Here Ganesha is worshipped with an Abhishekam of honey on Vinayaka Caviti (Caturthi).
Varuna Deva created an vigraha of Ganesha from sea shells and other materials obtained from the sea and worshipped Him as Pralayam Katha Vinayakar (Vinayaka of the deluge narration).
Sri Thyagaraja Swamy Sametha Sri Vadiudaiamman Temple:
Since Easwaran blessed Brahma to create the world by making way for the pralaya water to recede, this place is called Thiruvotriyur (votra or vatra means receding water). On the two days after the Karthihai full moon day, the covers for the lingams are removed and one can worship the lingam as sand putru itself. There are 27 Shiva lingams one for each nakshatram.
Pralayam Katha Matha : (at Kanchipuram)
Ganga in the form of huge flood began to submerge that place. One of Uma’s forms, Kali, obstructed the flood and she came to be called Pralayam Katha Matha. As Kali was unable to control the flood completely Uma called Mahavishnu for help. Vishnu took his Visvarupa form and obstructed the flood. The moon’s light shone on his throat and he came to be called Nila Thunda Perumal. (In Sanskrit literature, Neelakantha refers to Siva and not to Vishnu)
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