Author Archives: Sevak

Sri Ekambaranathar Temple and Sri Nilathingal Thundathan Perumal Temple (or Thiru Nilathingal Thundam)

Sri Ekambaranathar Temple (or “Lord of Mango Tree”) is the largest temple of Kanchipuram. Sri Chaitanya-Charitamrita Madhya lila 9.68 mentions, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited this temple during His tour to South India – “Arriving at Siva-kanchi, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited the deity of Lord Siva. By His influence, He converted all into Vaisnavas.” Thiru Nilathingal Thundam is one of the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu situated in Sri Ekambaranathar temple. The shrine is in the north-east corner of the temple.

When mother Parvathi was doing tapasya (penance) beneath a mango tree, Lord Siva wanted to test the strength of her tapasya. So, he set the mango tree on fire. Then, Parvathi sought the help of Lord Vaman. After hearing the request of Parvathi, Sri Vamana with four hands with Sankha (conch) in one hand and Chakra (disc) on the other, took out the Chandran (moon) from the head of Lord Siva. With the cool rays, Lord Vishnu made the fire cool and made the mango tree grow once again. After this, Parvathi went back to do the tapasya. Lord Siva wanted to test her again and sent Ganga, the river. When Ganga came very fast to destroy the tapasya of Parvathi, Parvathi explained her that both of them are sisters. Inspite of hearing this, Ganga River didn’t want to stop and tried to destroy her and her tapasya. At that time, Parvathi made a Siva lingam out of sand and elapsed the Linga with all veneration and embraced it. The Linga could not wash away by the water of Ganga. Siva was pleased with Parvati’s devotion. This is the Sthala Puranam of this temple. Lord Siva is worshipped in the form of earth Linga (made out of river sand). The temple tower (Gopura) is eleven storey structure adorned with excellent sculptures. This is one of the tallest temples in South India. There is a Linga in the prakaram of this tree which is a composite of 108 Lingas and another one of 1008 small Lingas.

To help Parvathi, Lord Narayana took the Chandran (moon) from Lord Siva’s head, he is called as “Nila Thingal Thundathan” and so the sthalam is called as “Thiru Nilathingal Thundam”. This Divya desam is found inside Ekambareswarar temple. Since, this temple is taken care by Siva Acaryas; the poojas for Sri Vishnu is done by a Siva priest only. There is a mango tree in the temple dating back to 3,500 years. The divine tree with its four branches representing the four Vedas yields fruits in four flavours – sweet, citric, spicy and bitter.

Vishnu is prayed here as Vamana murthy and the shrine is hailed by the Azhwar saints as one of the 108 Divya Desams. The presiding deity of the Lord Vishnu’s temple is ‘Lord Nilathingal Thundathan‘, also known as Lord Chandra Chooda Perumal. He is in a standing posture, facing towards the west. His consort Mahalakshmi is named as Ner Oruvar Illavalli Nachiyar and also called as Nilathingal Thunda Thaayar. The Pushkarani (temple tank) of Sri Nilathingal Thundathan Perumal Temple is called as Chandra Pushkarani.

Mango tree

Sri Ekambaranathar

Sri Pachai Vannar Temple and Sri Pavalai Vannar Temple (or Thiru Pavala Vannan)

In Kanchipuram, there are two temples of Pachai Vannar and Pavalai Vannar. Two shrines standing opposite to each other, two places where the Lord is mentioned by His colour. He is seen in emerald green at the Pachai Vannar and coral coloured at the Pavalai Vannar.

The temple of Pavalai Vannar was praised in the hymns of the Azhwar saints as the 108 sacred abodes of Vishnu. Sri Pachai Vannar Temple is the 54th among 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. Here Vishnu is worshipped as Sri Pavala Vannar Perumal with his consort Pavalavalli Thayar.

Lord Pavala Vannan Perumal is in standing posture facing west. There is another shrine opposite to this sannadhi about half kilometre away called Pacchai Vannar Sannadhi. Lord Pachai Vannan Perumal is seated on divine serpent Adiseshan. The two sannadhis together are considered as one divyadesam. It is said that both the Pacchai and Pavala Vannan perumal has to be worshipped, without leaving any one of them.

Lord Vishnu appears green as emerald, hence praised as Pachai Vanna Perumal – Pachai Vannam-emerald green. As He granted darshan to sage Marichi alone, no one is with Him in the Altar. He granted darshan as Lord Ramachandra to the Rishi, hence worshipped as Lord Rama and Mother Sita. Just opposite here is the Pavala Vanna Nathar temple, (red as a coral) one of the 108 Divya Desams. Worshipping Pachai Vanna Nathar and Pavala Vanna Nathar is a rare opportunity for the devotees. Mother Mahalakshmi blesses the devotees from a separate shrine. Generally Sri Chakra is installed in temples either opposite Mother’s shrine or nearby. Here, Sri Chakra is installed in the shrine itself. Mother blesses Her devotees in three forms, Sri Chakra Rupini, Mahalakshmi and Sita.

Sri Pandava Dhootha (Duta) Perumal Temple (or Thiru Paadagam)

Sri Pandava Dhootha Perumal Temple is the 49th among 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. The presiding deity of the temple Sri Pandava Dhootha is in a huge form called Vishva-rupa of Lord Krishna. The awe-inspiring, gigantic twenty five feet deity of Lord Krishna as Visva-rupa (Universal form) is in sitting posture facing east. Temple is associated with the pastime when Lord Sri Krishna went to the Kauravas as a messenger (duta) of the Pandavas to make a peace treaty to avoid warfare. Duryodhana, the king of the Kauravas, had a plan to arrest and kill Krishna while He was in Hastinapura. He dug a deep pit and covered it with a carpet and a chair studded with gems. He had wrestlers hidden in the pit to wrangle Krishna. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, displayed His Vishvarupa, the Universal form, a giant form.
After hearing this pastime from the sage Vaisampayana, King Janamajeya, the great-grandson of Arjuna, did penance here to have darshan of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna appeared in His divine form, Visva-rupa and blessed Janamajeya at this temple. Sri Krishna at this temple is called Padagam. Pada means big and Agam means residence, signifying Thirupadagam as the place where Vishnu resides with his giant form.

The temple is considered as one of the three oldest Vishnu temples in Kanchipuram, the other two being Ulagalantha Perumal Temple and Yathothkari Perumal Temple. The central shrine of the temple has a large image of the presiding deity Pandava dhoothar, which has a height of 25 feet (7.6 m). Such a large deity of Lord Krishna is one of its kinds. The deity is seen seated in Arda Padmasana posture with his right leg bent to the basement. The right palm depicts the Abhaya Mudra for protection and the left arm depicts Varada Mudra for giving boon. The shrine faces east and the vimana of the temple is called Bhadra Vimana. The preceding hall to the main sanctum, Mukha Mandapa, has bronze images of the festival deities of the temple and Azhwars. The shrine of Rukmini is located to the south of the main shrine and has the deity of Rukmini. Deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva is located behind the main shrine. Matsya Theertham, the temple tank, is located on the north-eastern side of the temple. The major festival of the temple is Sri Krishna Janmastami.

Lord Sri Pandava Dhootha Perumal

Sri Vaikuntha Perumal Temple (or Thiru Parameshwara Vinnagaram)

Sri Vaikuntha Perumal Temple is the 56th Divya Desam dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This location was called Vidarbha desa and ruled by a king named Viroacha. Due to misdeeds in his preceding birth, Virocha had no heir. He prayed to Lord Siva at Sri Kailasanathar temple. The presiding deity of the temple gave a boon that the Dvarapalas (the gatekeepers) of the Vishnu temple will be born as sons to him. The two sons and princes, Pallavan and Vallavan, were deeply devoted to Lord Vishnu and conducted big yajnas to Lord Vishnu for welfare of people of the kingdom. Pleased by their devotion, Lord Vishnu granted darshan as Vaikundanatha Perumal to the princes.

Sri Vaikuntha Perumal temple is built in Dravidian architectural style. Temple has three-tier sanctorum’s (prakara), one on top of the other. At the ground floor sanctum, the primary deity of Lord Vishnu known as Sri Paramapadha Nathan is present in a seated posture. Lord Vishnu deity, called Lord Ranganatha on the first floor sanctum is in the sleeping posture (sayana kolam) with His consorts Sri Devi and Bhu Devi. On the topmost floor, Sri Paramapadanathan is in the standing posture. The temple dates back to 1300 years and is beautifully constructed. The walls of the temples are adorned with historical and religious sculptures and few describing the rule of the Pallava dynasty.

The Vaikasi Brahmotsavam, celebrated during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-June), and Vaikuntha Ekadasi celebrated during the Tamil month of Margazhi (Dec-Jan) are the two major festivals celebrated in the temple. About three lakh people visit this temple during Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival. This temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th to 9th century Vaishnava canon by Thirumangai Azhwar in ten hymns. These verses are recited by a group of temple priests amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument) at the temple. The temple is also called Mummada Koil. There was a secret underground tunnel laid out from this temple all the way to Mahabalipuram, on the eastern sea shore, as well as to Parameswara Pallava’s court.

Lord Sri Vaikunda Perumal