Nambi Temple - Where Garuda Gets Heavier During Processions And Where The Goddess Rules!

Happy Narsimha Jayanti to everyone!

On Thursdays, I usually write about the temples dedicated to Maha Vishnu. It is a beautiful coincidence that the temple about which we are going to read today has a legend of Narsimha swamy associated with it. 

This temple is named Nachiyar Koyil, also called as Nambi temple and is located in the village Thirunarayur at the outskirts of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu in the form of Nambi Perumal and His consort is Devi Lakshmi in the form of Vanjulavalli Thayar. 

This is one of those rare temples where the Devi has more prominence over the Lord. Legend states that Maha Vishnu had a vision that women would achieve more prominence in the Kali Yuga over men and He wanted to set an example Himself by giving prominence to His consort. In the sanctum sanctorum, the Devi's image is slightly in front of the Lord's deity. Also, all offerings are first done to the Devi. In the procession, the Devi's deity goes forward, followed by the Lord's. The Devi's deity also has a bunch of keys in Her waist, indicating that She is the administrator here.

While talking about procession, it is important to mention the Kal Garuda. 

The vaahan (vehicle) of Maha Vishnu at first requires 4 people to carry Him outside. But as the procession moves, the deity seems to get heavier, although His weight remains the same! The number of people required to carry the Garuda increases in proportion to 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 when taken out of the temple. People have also observed droplets of sweat over Garuda's mukha (face) when He is being carried.  The above proportion of people required to carry the Garuda, decreases when Garuda is brought back into the temple and once inside, it takes only 4 people to carry Him. There is a legend that every time the sculptor sculpted the image of Kal Garuda, the bird kept flying away and he had to start with a new image until, in frustration, he threw a stone at Garuda and injured the bird. Thereafter, Garuda stayed in one place till the sculpture was finished. The deity of Kal Garuda is made up of shaligram, the element with which most deities are sculpted. During the procession, Kal Garuda receives gifts such as dresses and ornaments from the presiding deity Srinivasa Perumal and also from Ranganatha Swami of Srirangam. 

This temple is the place where Lord Vishnu married Maha Lakshmi in Her form as Vanjulavalli Thayar. Legend has it that once Sage Medhavi, while bathing in a river, found the image of Chakrathalvar, the deity of Sudarshana Chakra entwined with Yoga Narsimha Swami. If you consider most temples of Perumal, you will always find these two together - Sudharshanar on one side and Narsimhar on the other. Sage Medhavi heard a divine proclamation to install the image in his hermitage and to regularly worship it. Accordingly the sage acted upon the divine order. One day, he found a little girl in his hermitage. The child requested the sage to allow her to live there and to take care of her. The sage took the child under his protection and raised her as his daughter. Unknown to him, the little girl was none other than Maha Lakshmi. He named the girl as Vanjulavalli. When she grew up and reached the age of marriage, Maha Vishnu Himself approached the sage on His Garuda and asked for Vanjulavalli's hand in marriage. The sage agreed and the marriage was performed in a grand manner under the witness of gods such as Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva and many other deities. The sage requested Maha Vishnu to stay at the place permanently and the Lord agreed. 

This temple is also believed to be the place where Maha Vishnu initiated Thirumangai Alvar, one of His prominent devotees into Vaishnavism. Legend has it that Thirumangai Alvar who was initially known as Neelan was a tribal chieftain and was a great devotee of Maha Vishnu. He spent all his wealth in service of the Lord but when difficult times came upon him, nobody helped him as he was not a Vaishnava. He approached the deity of the Lord in the temple and requested Him to accept him as his devotee. Maha Vishnu is said to have offered Neelan the Vaishnav-mudras - the conch and the discus, thereby initiating Neelan into Vaishnavism and accepting him as His devotee. This is the only temple where Maha Vishnu appeared in the form of a Guru and accepted a devotee by the process of Mudradaanam. 

The temple has an impressive five-tiered Rajagopuram with a towering Vimanam named Hema Vimanam. The temple is said to have built by Chola king Kochenghat. The king was originally a devotee of Lord Shiva and he had built 70 temples for the same. This is the only temple he built in honour of Maha Vishnu. 

Om Namo Narayana! Om Devyai Namaha!