Lokanatha Perumal Temple - Where The Lord Is Tied To The Devotees In Bhakti!


Picture Courtesy: Tamilnadu Tourism

The next temple in the list of Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu is the Lokanatha temple which is situated in Sikkal, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu in the form of Lokanatha Perumal and His consort is Devi Lokanaayaki. 

There is a very beautiful legend associated with this temple. Rishi Vashist was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. He made an idol of Krishna with butter and worshipped it every day. The butter never melted. Krishna was pleased with his devotion and decided to playfully test him.

One day, while the Rishi was worshipping the butter-made idol, Krishna took on the form of a child and began eating the idol. This enraged the Rishi and he tried to catch hold of the child who started running to escape the Rishi's wrath. Vashist followed him until the child came to a place where a group of Rishis were chanting. The Rishis, seeing Vashist chasing the boy, caught hold of the child and tied him to a tree. That is when Krishna revealed His true form to them. The Rishis fell at his feet in devotion and asked for forgiveness. They requested Krishna to stay there forever. The temple stands at the place where this leela of Krishna happened and it is believed that the tree to which He was bound is still there. Since Krishna was tied to the tree, he also came to be called as Damodar Perumal here.

An interesting fact about Rishi Vashist is that, he was present in both the incarnations of Maha Vishnu - as the Guru of Shri Ram and the disciple of Shri Krishna!

Some interesting events happened here with Thirumangai Alvar, one of the 12 Alvar-saints devoted to Maha Vishnu. Once, Thirumangai was carrying some gold for the renovation work being done at Srirangam. Feeling tired, he rested under the shade of a tree. The tree, which is the same tree to which Krishna was tied, fanned the Alvar with its leaves sending cool breeze to him. When he woke up, he felt very refreshed. Just as he felt the pangs of hunger, a man came and offered him some food. Thirumangai humbly accepted it and even as he was eating, the man disappeared. Realising that Maha Vishnu Himself had come to his help, Thirumangai named the lord as Lokanatha Perumal. He also blessed the tree that it would always bloom.

Thirumangai had hid the gold under the tree at night and in the morning, when he was trying to take it out, the owner of the land came and disputed that the gold belonged to him since it was his land. It is said that this dispute lies un-resolved till date!

Due to the above dispute about which news spread in the village, the natives of the village started viewing Thirumangai as a trouble maker and refused to give him any water. It is said that because of their refusal to give him water, the well in the village dried up and the well is still dry today.

The temple has an impressive 5-tiered Rajagopuram. The Moolavar (deity inside the temple) and the Utsavar (deity taken out for processions) look almost identical which is rare in temples. Also, in this temple, during its annual festival, the deity of Vishnu is anointed with Vibhuti (ash), a custom that is followed mostly in the temples of Lord Shiva. 

Om Namo Narayanaaya! Om Devyai Namaha!

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