Devaadi Raja Perumal - The Protector Of His Devotees!



The Divya Desham mentioned in this article is called as Devaadi Raja Perumal temple and is located in a village named Therezundhur (pronounced as Therelundur) in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. Maha Vishnu is worshipped as Amaruviappan and Maha Lakshmi is worshipped as Sengamalavalli Thayar. 

There are several interesting legends associated with this temple.

There was a king named Uparicharavasu who obtained a flying chariot from Lord Brahma. There are several versions regarding this chariot (called as Theru in Tamil). According to one version, the king was flying in his chariot over a place where there were many cows grazing. The chariot was made such that its shade could burn the person or object on which it fell. The shadow of the chariot fell on some cows which started burning. Maha Vishnu was upset by the plight of the cows and using His divine power, He made the chariot fall down. Since then, the place where the chariot fell, came to be called as Therezundhur.  

As per another legend, Lord Brahma once hid all the cattle that was looked after by Krishna with the intention of testing the Lord. Krishna created another herd with His Maya and looked after them, pretending as if nothing has changed. Lord Brahma realised that He had been thwarted by Maha Vishnu and returned all the cattle to Krishna. He also requested Krishna to stay with the cattle at the place where the temple later came to be constructed. The deity of this temple is shown as surrounded by cattle. 

Another legend states that Narsimha Swami, in order to appease Prahlada, approached him in the gentle form of Amaruviappan (the one surrounded by cattle), while there is also a legend that states that Kaveri, the river goddess, prayed to Maha Vishnu to settle in a place very near to her and pleased with her devotion, the Lord decided to stay here. 

The deity Devaadi Raja Perumal is considered as a Rakshak, a protector of His devotees. 

There is a temple of Lord Shiva beside this temple, where Maha Vishnu and Lord Shiva are believed to have placed a game of dice. This is the only temple where both the Lord and the Devi have been praised by Thirumangai Alvar in his hymns. The village where the temple is situated is believed to be the birth place of Kamban, the author of Ramayana in Tamil. 

There is an interesting legend associated with Garuda. Once Lord Indra gifted a crown and a tower to Garuda and told the bird to place them at his favourite Divya Desham. Garuda placed the diamond crown at Thirunarayanapuram temple and placed the tower at Therezundur temple. Hence the Vimaana of this temple is called as Garuda Vimaana. Also, unlike other temples where Garuda is opposite to the deity, the majestic bird is shown beside the deity in this temple. 

Om Namo Narayana! Om Devyai Namaha!

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