Gajendra Varadha - The One Who Liberated Gajendra!



The 9th temple in the list of Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu is the Gajendra Varadha temple in Thirukaviththalam in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu. As the name suggests, Maha Vishnu resides here as Gajendra Varadha Perumal and His consort is Devi Ramanavalli.

There used to be an elephant named Gajendra who was the leader of his herd. Once he came to a river to drink some water. Even as the elephant was drinking water, a crocodile sneaked up on him and bit his leg. The elephant cried out in pain while the crocodile only tightened its hold and showed no signs of letting go. Gajendra realized that the crocodile was slowly dragging him beneath the river. As a last resort, the elephant picked up a lotus and holding it in his trunk, offered it to Maha Vishnu with a prayer calling out "Aadimoolame!"

His prayers reached Maha Vishnu who set off on His trusted Garuda. He let out His Sudarshana Chakra and killed the crocodile. Through this incident, Maha Vishnu liberated two beings - Gajendra and the crocodile. 

In his previous birth, Gajendra was a king named Indradyumna who was a staunch devotee of Maha Vishnu. Once, when he was totally engrossed in meditation, he did not acknowledge the presence of Rishi Durvasa who got angered and cursed him that he would become an elephant in his next birth. When the king apologized to the Rishi, the later said that the king would get his deliverance from none other than Maha Vishnu. 

The crocodile used to be a Gandharva named Kuhu who used to live inside the pond where the temple is currently situated and who used to trouble people bathing in the pond. The Gandharva too got cursed by a saint that since he liked to stay in water and cause trouble to people, he would turn into a crocodile in his next birth and only Maha Vishnu would liberate him from his existence as a crocodile. 

Both the incidents happened at the place where the temple is currently situated. Since Maha Vishnu saved Gajendra here, the temple came to be called as Gajendra Varada temple. Legends say that Hanuman Himself used to worship the Lord here, thereby giving the name Kapisthalam to this place.

The deity is in Bhujanga-shayanam form here. The temple also has shrines for Yoga Narsimhar, Sudarshanar, Garuda and the Alvars along with a separate shrine for Devi Ramanavalli. The main pond of the temple is called as Gajendra Pushkarini. 

This temple is one of the five Krishnaaranyam (places dedicated to Lord Krishna). The rest four are: Tirukannamangai, Tirukannapuram, Tirukovilur and Tirukannangudi.

It is believed that calling out 'Aadimoolame!' in this temple is enough to get the help of Maha Vishnu.

Narayana Akilaguru Bhagawan Namaste!

Gajendra Varada Pahi Pahi!

Aadimoolame raksha rakshaam! Om Namo Naraayana!


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