KAnchIpuram divya desams Part 2

Transcription

1 KAnchIpuram divya desams Part 2 YathOkthakAri perumal, ThiruveqkA The city of KAnchIpuram has 14 divya desams spread all around the city. Of the 14 five of them are located in a region called Vishnu KAnchi (or cinna KAnchi) and the remaining 9 are in Siva KAnchi (or Big KAnchi).We described the foremost among them (VaradarAja perumal temple) in a previous article. Let us get a tourist s eye view of the remaining 13 divya desams in this article. All these temples are within a few kilometers of each other. By the way, a divya desam is defined as a VaishNavaite shrine which has been visited by one of the 12 AzhwArs and/or extolled by at least one song by an AzhwAr in what is known as nalayira divya prabhandham (NDP). Many a time religious history is narrated through devotional literature and although some events appear to be myths, the circumstances relating to historical facts appear to lend credence to them. Other times certain episodes have been propagated through gurudisciple lineage. Let us look at one such instance here. In the city of KAnchIpuram during the reign of Pallava king Parameswaran I ( CE), Thirumazhisai AzhwAr was pleased with the services rendered by an old lady at the ThiruveqkA temple and restored her to her youthful form so that she could continue to render service to the Lord for a long time. The king was attracted by the beauty of this lady and married her. However, he wanted his own youth returned to him too and he asked the assistant of the AzhwAr (KaNikkaNNan) to convey that desire to his guru. The disciple refused to do such a command. Consequently the king banished KaNikkaNNan out of his country. The AzhwAr not wanting to part with his disciple walked with him and requested that the Lord of the temple too do likewise. The Lord obeyed. Soon the kingdom faced untold hardship of drought and famine. The king was contrite and requested the duo to return. They acceded and asked the Lord to return with them. The Lord obeyed the dictates of His devotee again. Accordingly the Lord at ThiruveqkA is called YatOktakAri or sonna vannam seyda PerumAL (the Lord who did what He was told to do). The picture that is seen at the top is unique in the sense the head of the Lord is to the right of

2 the audience while every other reclining posture has the head to the left. It is said, half in jest, that the Lord forgot which way he was lying down before He left the place acceding to the wishes of His devotee! ThiruveqkA is the place of birth of PoygaiyAzhwAr. Legend has it that the river VEgavathi rose in spate (commanded by demons) to destroy the yagna conducted by Brahma to worship Lord Vishnu. The Lord lay down as a dam across the river and saved the yagna. It appears that there are references to this phenomenon in sangam literature such as SilappadhikAram and TholkAppiyam. The front portal Rajagopuram sports 5 tiers. The Lord s name is YatOktakAri or sonna vannam seyda perumal. The goddess is called KOmaLavalli. The temple tank is called poygai pushkarani and the vimanam is called vedasara vimanam. Five AzhwArs have done mangalasasanam on this temple in 15 pasurams. AshTabujakaram ThiruththaNkA ThiruvELukkai: The Lord at ashtabujakaram temple, AdhikEsava PerumAL, stands facing east with eight arms, as the name suggests. He holds eight weapons, one in each hand, to ward off the demons who were out to spoil the yagna of Brahma. He is also called GajEndra Varadhan, since He saved the elephant from the grips of the crocodile at this site. The mythological elephant was actually a sage by the name Mahasudha who took the form of an elephant to worship Lord Vishnu. The eight weapons are: the discus, sword, arrow, bow, shield, mace, conch, and flower. The tradition here is that one should worship the goddess Pushpavalli or PadmAsini (alar mel mangai) before worshipping the perumal. The temple tank is called GajEndra pushkarani and the vimanam is known as GaganAkruti vimanam. PEyAzhwAr and ThirumangaiyAzhwAr sang the praise of the Lord in 12 pasurams. ThiruththaNkA is the birthplace of the AchArya VEdAnta desikan. The grass dharba grows wild in this place. Hence it is also known as thuppul. The Lord s name is dhipaprakasar (or vilakkolip perumal). He is in a standing posture facing west and the goddess s name is Marakadhavalli. Here again the legend is that Brahma started a cool garden (hence the name than ka) to perform a yagna without informing his consort who got upset and sent the demon Mayanalam to disturb it. The latter darkened the entire place but the Lord manifested Himself as bright light (hence dhipa prakasar) and helped Brahma finish his yagna. The temple tank is known as Saraswati thirththam and the

3 vimanam is called SrIkara vimanam. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr eulogized the Lord with two pasurams. ThiruvELukkai: Lord Narasimha from the Hastigiri caves followed the demons to this place and vanquished them. He then decided to stay at this place, having liked its environs, as YOganarasimhar. Since He stayed here out of His own volition this place is called ThiruvELirukkai (vel= desire; irukkai = abode) which got morphed to ThiruvELukkai. The deity here is called azhagiya singar in a standing posture facing eastward. The goddess is called amrutavalli or VELukkai valli. The temple tank is known as kanakasaras or hemasaras, as well as prahaladh thirththam. The vimanam is called kanaka vimanam. Sri VEdAntha desikan wrote a mangalasasanam called kamasikashtakam. Two AzhwArs sang 4 pasurams. ulagalandha PerumAL temple: In a single temple complex called ulagalandha PerumAL temple, there are 4 divya desams. They are thiruooragam, thirukkaragam, thiruniragam, and thirukkarvanam. It is likely these four different shrines were scattered within the city long ago but have been brought together under one location later. In thiruooragam, the main deity, thiruvikrama or ulagalandha perumal, is an imposing 35 feet in height and 24 feet in width. The episode that is depicted is that Vishnu took the vamana avataram and asked Mahabali, the demon king, for three measures of land. When the king agreed to do so, then the dwarf vamana turned into gigantic thiruvikrama, measured all the worlds in two steps and placed the third step on Mahabali s head and destroyed him. The demon king

4 wished to have a darshan of the Lord in that form and hence the posture was enacted at thiruooragam. Two fingers on the left hand and one finger on the right point upwards. The goddess is amudavalli. The vimanam is called SArasrIkara vimanam and the temple tank is called naga thirththam. Two AzhwArs have sung 6 pasurams in all. ThirukkAragam is a small shrine located in the precincts of ulagalandha perumal temple. The festival idol is called KaruNAkara perumal and the goddess is called PadhmAmaNi nachchiyar. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr s single pasuram describes the Lord here in a standing posture. The separate temple tank is called akraya thirththam and the vimanam is known as VAmana vimanam. ThirunIragam shrine in the same complex has no main granite idol but only the festival idol who is called JagadIsa perumal. The goddess has the name nilamangai valli. The vimanam is called JagadIswara vimanam and the temple tank is known as akrura thirththam. The fourth divya desam in the same complex is ThirukkArvAnam. The festival idol is known as ThirukkaLvar in a standing posture and the goddess is called Kamalavalli nachchiyar or thamaraiyal. The vimanam is called Pushkala vimanam and the tank is known by the name Gowri thadaham. ThiruppADagam ThiruppavaLavaNNan ParamEswara ViNNagaram At ThiruppADagam, the perumal is am imposing 28 feet height and that too in a seated posture. The Lord is known as PANDava thudha perumal and there are two goddesses, RukmiNi and SathyabhAma. Legend has it that the King JanamEjaya (the great grandson of Arjuna) after listening to the story of Krishna s mission to the Kauravas and His viswarupa manifestation at the Kaurava court wanted to witness a similar event. The Lord obliged at this shrine. The temple tank is known as Mathsya thirththam and the vimanam goes by the name vedha koti vimanam or chakra vimanam.. This shrine got eulogized by four AzhwArs in 6 pasurams. The shrine ThiruppavaLa vannan temple and its pair Thiruppachchai vannan temple lie on opposite sides of the same street. The two constitute a single divya desam having been sung by ThirumangaiyAzhwAr in a single pasuram. PavaLa vannap perumal, in red hue, stands facing westward and the goddess is PavaLa valli. The vimanam is

5 pravala vimanam. Although the Pachchai vannap perumal is not the subject of a pasuram, He is worshipped on a mandatory basis after PavaLa vannap perumal is worshipped. ParamEswara vinnagaram has the added distinction of its excellent architecture and it is a protected monument under the supervision of Archeological Survey of India. The main deity is VaikuNThanAthan (in a seated posture) and the goddess is called VaikuNThavalli. The temple was built by the pallava king Nandivarma Pallavan ( CE). The vimanam is called Mukundha vimanam and the temple tank is known as Jarammadha thirththam. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr sang the glory of the Lord here in 10 pasurams. The final two to round out the 14 divya desams in KAnchIpuram are ThirunilAththingaL thundam and ThirukkaLvanUr. The former is located within the premises of EkAmbarEswarar temple in Siva KAnchi, where goddess PArvati did penance to attain Lord Siva. The goddess was helped by Lord Vishnu who protected her from the heat by using the cool rays of the moon (nila = moon). The main deity (in standing posture) in this mini-shrine is known as nilaththingal thundaththan and the goddess is called ner oruvarilla valli (one who has no equal). The vimanam is called Surya vimanam and the tank is called Chandra pushkarani. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr sang about the Lord in one pasuram. ThirukkaLvanUr temple is near the KAmAkshi amman temple. The main deity is called Adhi VarAhan and the goddess goes by the name anjilai valli. The vimanam is called vamana vimanam and the temple tank is called nithya pushkarani. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr has sung about both these shrines in a single pasuram. Sethuraman Subramanian mahakavi@nc.rr.com

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