In this blog, we will be reading about one such Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu which is said to have been built in the Treta Yuga. Needless to say, this temple is even older than the Srirangam temple and is considered as one of the most pious among the Divya Deshams. One visit to this temple is believed to be equivalent to visiting all the 108 Divya Deshams.
The temple we are going to read about is Thiruvellarai temple, also called as Pundarikakshan Perumal temple. It is situated in the village of Thiruvellarai at the outskirts of Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is of course Maha Vishnu in the form of Pundarikakshan and His consort is Devi Shenbagavalli, also called as Devi Pankajavalli.
Owing to the presence of white rocks in this area, this temple is believed to have gained its name Thiruvellarai (Vellarai meaning white rock).
There are many interesting legends associated with this temple.
It is said that once the King of Ayodhya Sibi Chakravarthi was fighting with some demons with his warriors when a white coloured wild boar appeared before his army. The king tried to chase it but could not capture the boar. Sage Markandeya was meditating in the same place. The king approached the sage and laid out his problem before him. The sage delightfully proclaimed that the king was blessed that Maha Vishnu had already given him a glimpse of His divine form as Varaha. The sage advised the king to pour milk on an ant-hill that was there nearby. The king duly performed the ritual and to the delight of everyone, Maha Vishnu appeared before them in His original divine form. The sage requested the king to build a temple for Maha Vishnu there. The king called out 3700 Vaishnavas from the north side of the country to assist in building the temple. Unfortunately, one vaishnav perished during the transit. Maha Vishnu took the disguise of Pundarikakshan and joined the rest of the vaishnavas and is said to have assisted in building the temple.
Another legend states that Maha Lakshmi wished for an abode for Herself on earth. It is at this place i.e. Thiruvellarai that She underwent some penance and got the opportunity to see the divine form of Maha Vishnu. The Lord also promised Her that in this temple, He would be only in the form of Archa-rupa (an idol) and all the rights of the temple rituals would be with the Devi. During the festival times, it is the Devi who leads the procession. In the form that Maha Vishnu revealed to the Devi, His eyes appeared to be lotus-shaped, hence He is also referred here as Thamarai Kannan (Thamarai means lotus) and the Devi is referred to as Pankajavalli (Pankajam is another word for lotus).
In our previous blogs, we read about how Lord Shiva incurred the sin of Brahmahatya when He had to decapitate one of Lord Brahma's heads to remind the later about His immortal nature. It is believed that Lord Shiva attained salvation from Brahmahatya at this place when He worshipped Lord Pundarikakshan.
Another widely believed legend is that, a devotee named Pundarikakshan cultivated a flower garden in the temple, named Nandavanam and worshipped Maha Vishnu and Maha Lakshmi every day. Pleased with his devotion, the Lord and Devi granted Him with their divine vision. Hence this temple is believed to have been named Pundarikakshan Perumal temple.
The temple's architecture has a lot of significance. There are two entrances to the sanctum of the temple - Uttarayana Vaasal which is open for devotees during the period 15th January to 15th June and the Dakshinayana Vaasal which is open for devotees during the rest of the year. During the period of Uttarayan, the Lord is called as Thai Maatha Naayagan and during Dakshinayan, He is referred to as Maayavan. These two entrances are said to represent the continous cycle of coming into existence and going out of it.
The temple has seven water bodies in the temple and eight shrines totally dedicated to Garuda, the Alvars, Shri Ramanuja, the king Sibi Chakravarthi, Sage Markandeya and so on. There are 18 steps to the temple, representing the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. The last four steps represent the four vedas.
Pundarikakshaaya Namaha!
Very informative
ReplyDeleteThanks