Twin temples of Thiruparkadal

Thiruparkadal a small village near Kaveripakkam on the Chennai-Bangalore highway. There are two temples very close to each other in this village. These temples have an very interesting story behind them. The mummoorthikal (Brahma,Shiva & Vishnu) is said to have given dharshan for a sage. In the first temple Lord Prasanna Venkatesa perumal resides and showers his blessings to us. At the very sight of this perumal you would feel that u are in Thirumala.This perumal is the same as our Srinivasan at Thirumala.The real surprise was more when we saw the perumal in the standing posture above the shiva lingam. As the sthala puranam says that all the three gods gave dharshan to a sage, in this temple shiva & vishnu is said to have given dharshan.

In the next temple the perumal is in the lying posture and is simply majestic.Here perumal is said to have given dharshan for the sage with Bramha from his naabikamalam. Perumal lying on the aadhiseshan is around 6 foot long and his thirumeni is made from a tree called "athhi"(athimaram). Everything was fine but i was totally dissatisfied with the way the temple was maintained. Bright flourescent lights glowing inside the sanctum sanctorum is totally irritating and does not add any value to the sannidhi. Even the archakar showed only a very minimal commitment and performed the mangalaharathi only from outside the sanctum sanctorum. I got embarrassed and even wild at the sight of the perumal theertham being served from a stainless steel vattil . Such is the status of that temple.Left the temple with a heavy heart and only with a a satisfaction of having had a dharshan of perumal, everything else is in total disarray.

How to Reach...
On the Chenai - Bangalore highway, Thiruparkadal is around 5 kms from Kaveripakkam. Take left after a police checkpost at Kaveripakkam. A small info board is available on the left.

Sevilimedu Sri Lakshmi Nrisimhan Temple

Srimathe Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha Parabramhane namaha

As prahlada rightly said that the Lord is everywhere, our Lord Nrisimhan resides everywhere.It is for us to identify him and get his blessings. Many temples though being the door next to us it becomes very less known and less accessed due to many reasons, probably the lord himself would have thought not to interact with too many people.....

Sevilimedu is a small village very near to kancheepuram. It was a surprise to us when we found this temple at a vicinity of within 5 kms from kancheepuram Devaperumal temple and also was surprised to see the status of this temple. The beauty of the lord cannot be explained in words. Lakshmi Nrisimhan is in the sitting posture. The moolavar is around 7 feet high. Having dharshan of the perumal in the brightness of the ghee lamp is something wonderful. Perumal thirumugam seems to be very matured and old. The utsavar's thirunamam is Sundara Varadhan . The Thayar's thirunamam is Soundaravalli thayar .

Though this temple is very near to one the most important and prominent divadesam of our Srivaishnava sampradhayam only a very little care has been taken on this temple. As Lakshmi Nrisimhan is known as Rakshakan for all the devotees here he had rendered his services to Devaperumal(varadhan) also. Deveperumal is said to have come here and stayed here during the difficult times faced by our temples and the utsavams of Sri Devarajan is said to have conducted in this temple.

The renovation of the Raja gopuram is on and many other renovations is going on in this temple. With all the azhwar acharyan sannidhis inside the temple Sri Lakshmi Nrisimhan & Soundaravalli thayar are showering their blessings on us. Wheneevr you go to Kancheepuram never miss this temple. The Bhattacharyar's house is near by in the street opposite to the temple.

Rama Priyan - Original name of Ethiraja Sampathkumaran

Srimathe SriLakshmi Nrisimha Parabrahmane Namaha

This is an very interesting piece of information which i had infered from Swamy U.Ve.Sri.Velukuddi Krishnan's Upanyasam. Everybody is aware that Melkote(Thirunarayanapuram) which is called the "Gnana mandapam " is one out of the four foremost divyadesams of our Srivaishnava sampradhayam, the other three being Srirangam,Kancheepuram & Thirumalai(Tirupathi).

The perumal who resides in this divyadesam is called Thirunayanan(moolavar) and Ethiraja Sampathkumaran(Chellapillai-in tamil) is the utsavar's thirunamam.Everybody would be aware of the fact that swami Ramanujar was directed by the lord himself to find him from the Tulasi tree in the kalyani Pushkarani which he communicated to Swami in his dream. The story behind Swami Ramanujar coming to this divyadesam is very touching. During the muslim invasions almost all our divyadesams were under scurnity of the sultans and all the bhaghawatas and our perumals and their properties were either stolen or damaged. Under these circumstances Swami who was in srirangam had the danger of being captured and it was Koorathazhwar who decided to disguise himself as Ethirajar due to which he lost both his eyes, the culprit being Krimikanda cholan and gave Grahasthashrama Kashayam (white dhoti) which normally none of the sanyasi is entitled to wear and had requested Swami to go in the direction of Melkotai.Thus Swami arrived here.

After finding out the moolavar he was also instructed by the lord himself to fetch him(utsavar) from Yammadarayan in Delhi. Swami went there and found perumal in the Princess' palace and pledged the utsavamoorthy to come with him. No sooner did swamy call him than the lord came jumping out of the Cradle in which he was kept by the princess like a new born baby and sat on the laps of Swamy Ramanujar. Hence the name Ethiraja Sampathkumaran(Sellapillai).

Then How does the name "Rama Priyan" arise......?

Everyone is aware that our Srirangam namperual prior to his arrival in to this divyadesam was intially with Brahma in his sathyalogam and then it was given to Raghuvamsham in which all the kings including Rama had been doing aradhanai for this perumal. After Rama's Pattabishekam this perumal was handed over to Vibheeshanan and the rest is history..... Since Rama had given his aradhya devathai to Vibheeshanan Bramha gave another idol(our Sellapillai) to him for his Nithya Aradhana. Since the perumal was so close to Rama he is "Rama Priyan". There is one more explanation being given for the evolution of this name, i.e after Rama's period it was during the Kucha(rama's son) who was performing the aradhana for this perumal and while he conducted the marriage of his daughter with an Yadava king he gave this perumal as a seedhanam and thereon this perumal's aradhanam was done by Yadavas and it was Balarama(brother of krishna) who identified this idol as the utsavar for the Thirunarayanan and installed it in Melkotai and hence the name "(Bala)Rama Priyan".......

Kovil,Thirumalai,Perumal Kovil....

In our Srivaishnava Sampradhayam, out of the 108 divya desams, the 3 foremost divyadesams are Srirangam,Tirupathi & Kancheepuram.These 3 Divya desams are refered to as Kovil,Thirumalai & Perumal Kovil. In our sampradhayam if one says that i am goig to Kovil it simply refers that he is going to Srirangam... If one says that i am going to malai then it refers only Thirumalai(Tirupathi) and if one says that i am going to perumal kovil then it is Perumal Kovil of Devarajan.
In the context of Kovil,Thirumalai,Perumal Kovil here is another interesting view of these 3 Divya desams.
Here Each of these divya desams are defined as a mandapam. This is formulated by Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar(Son of vadakku Thiruveedi Pillai ) who gave us the 18 Rahasya Grandhas. These Rahasya Grandhas has a link to our Singaperumal Kovil of srirangam as these Granthas were made in the campus of Singaperumal Kovil.
Now let us enjoy one of the formula(Choornikai) from that Grandham which describes these divya desams as Mandapams
Pushpa Thiyaga Bhoga MandapangalilPanipoovum Aalavattamum Veenaiyum Kaiyumana AntharangaraiMudimannavanum Vaitheekothamarum Mahamuniyum Anuvarthitha Kramam
Peyar Karanam:
Pushpa mandapam - Thirumalai(since Lord Venkateswara is very fond of flowers)
Thiyaga mandapam - Kancheepuram(As Varadhan had sacrificied Swami Desikan for the sake of Srirangam namperumal. Thiyagam Seithathal Thiyaga mandapam)
Bhoga mandapam - Srirangam( As it has all the facilities and luxury that our namperumal enjoys and hence bhoga mandapam)
Meaning:
The meaning of this sloka is that three persons have done three kainkaryam in these three divya desams. These 3 people were followed by another 3 persons as accepting those 3 who did kaikaryams as their guru. nayanar had a tremendous capability to put these sloka in a sort of matrix.. say 3 by 3 matrix....
1.The first line of sloka tells the divya desams in the form of mandapams2. The second line tells about the kaikaryam did by three persons in these 3 divyadesams.3. The third line tells about the persons who had followed them.
Let us form the matrix....
carefully read the sloka split the sloka in to three as follows:
Pushpa Thiyaga Bhoga
panipoo Aalavattam veenai
Pushpa Thiyaga Bhoga
panipoo Aalavattam veenai
mudimannavan Vaitheekotahamar mahamuni
Take the first Column: Pushpa Panipoo Mudimannavan: In Pushpa mandapam(Tirupati) some one had did pushpa kainkaryam(panipoo). His name is Kurumbarutha nambigal. He is a pottery maker and had a practice of offering small mud flowers to Lord everyday after the close of business. The person who had followed this nambigal is Thondaimaan Chakravarthi(Mudimannavan). He is a very close associate of lord that lord once gave his chakra and shangam to him. He had the practice of offering a huge amount of flowers to the lord. After he had offered flowers he would come and see the next morning in the sannidhi only to find thos small mud flowers adorning the lord. Excited about this he followed nambigal.
Take the second Column:Tthiyagam Aalavattam vaitheekothamar
In Thiyaga mandapam(kancheepuram) someone had performed the aalavatta(Fan) kainkaryam. The person who did this was Thirukachhi nambigal and the person who had follwed him was Swami Ramanujar(Vaitheekothamar)
Take the Third Column:Bhoga Veenai mahamuni
In Bhoga mandapam(Srirangam) someone had performed the recital of veenai in front of the lord(Veenai ekantham still being followed - a tremendous ekantham). The person who did this was Thirupaan Azhwar who was born in paanar kulam. He was followed by Lokasaranga Munivar(mahamuni). A very interesting thing is that first thirupaan azhwar was not allowed to come inside Srirangam as he was from a low caste and was beaten up. But then The lord himself ordered Loka Saranga munivar to carry thirupaan azhwar in his shoulders to his temple.
Now try reading the sloka and you will find the exact meaning....

This was tremendously explained by swamy velukkudi krishnan in his Mandapa Thrayam upanyasam......

Adiyen...

Narasingapuram - Lakshmi Nrisimhan-The Ultimate Rakshakan

"Thuvayee rakshathee rakshakaikimanyayhee

Thuvayee arakshathee rakshakaikimanyayhee......"

As beautifully rendered by Swami Nikamanta Mahadesikan... when Nrisimhan has decided to protect us there is no need for another lord or devathai to protect us... and when Nrisimhan has left us then also there is no other lord or devathai who could save us as Nrisimhan is the ultimate rakshakan.. one who cannot be saved by Nrisimhan could definetly not be saved by anyone...

"Naalai Enbadhu kidaiyathu Narasinganidathil".... Such is the power of the lord who appeared from a pillar just to keep the words of a child who promised his presence everywhere "Thoonilum Thurumbilum".

Narasingapuram(as the name suggests) is a place ruled by the almighty himself. This temple is around 2700 years old and dates back to chola kingdom. It was built by the chola kings.This temple was destructed during the British invasion.
"Azhagiyan thaney Arivuruvam Thaney"..... as rightly said by alwars here Nrisimhan is so beautiful. The uniqueness of this temple is that Thayar siiting on the lap of the lord is viewing bhakthas and not the lord which is a rare posture. Both Thayar and perumal are showering their krupai on us. Being renovated at a cost of around 1 crore 75 lakhs and the samprokshanam was completed on 16th July 2007. When we visited the same temple 2 years back there were only two sannidhis(thayar & perumal) standing alone amidst the broken walls and bushes. It is said that though many had took initiatives to renovate the temple in the last 300 years or so it is only that now it has been completed. It is also said that the lord had ordered to complete the rennovation of thayar sannidhi first .Since the utsavar(old one-original) has been looted during the muslim invasions a new utsavar(prahladha varadhan) has been installed.
A beautiful temple with all the azhwars and acharyan sannidhis. Periya thiruvadi(Garudazhwar) in front of perumal is simply superb.This temple is in perambakkam 55 kms from Chennai on the sriperumpudur road.The temple is completly rennovated. Enroute to the temple(Perambakkam) from the highway is beautiful with full of greens & farms making the trip much more exciting. A must see temple....

Adiyen....

Chaturangapattinam - A temple by sea shore

Malai mandala Perumal - Sri perundevi thayar samedha Varadharaja Perumal
That was an cool sunday(yesterday) vey amicable and lovely to travel. I am excited at the very moment of a call from my cousin who invited me for chaturangapattinam. The name itself sounds a grandeur and yes the perumal out there is also very grand in fashion and as charm as a child. As popularly known as SADRAS(name given by the Dutch) who used this place as their port, this small beautiful village is just about 27 kms from chengalpattu.
Really the place took my memories back to Srirangam where our namperumal would camp himself in some mandapam amidst the thoppu(garden) and would start in a vahanam in the evening during the pangui and chitirai utsavams.
This temple is simply beautiful with calmness around everywhere. One can hear the language of the nature. Just a half a km away from the sea the perumal here stands majestically. Some facts about this temple......
1. Perumal Thirunamam- Malai mandala perumal - Varadarajan . Thayar - Perundevi Thayar. Perumal is seen with Sridevi & Bhoomidevi in standing posture.
2. Perumal is slightly above the surface level. Once said to be on the hill.
3. Perumal's oru Thiruvadi(left) is slightly in front ready to go - He is said to have given Gajendra Motsham hence this posture.
4. Perumal & Thayar are Syambu from the earth.
5. Skethrathipathi is Lakshmi Narayanan is said to have given space for varadhan and he sits just outside the Sanctum Sanctorum. This is the same as Tirupathi where Varahar is the owner and Our lord srinivasa is just a tenant.
6. Periya Thiruvadi(garudan) is in front and he has 8 snakes on his body and hence this sthalam is said to be a raghu sthalam.
7.The Nelaipadi(gate) of the Sanctum Sanctorum has Yoga Nrisimhar which is a rare sight. One can find Lakshmi or Krishnan in temples.
8. ne interesting fact is that the Masi makam festival(Theertha vari) is being celeberated by(donors) the local fishermen community.
9. The Chakram of Perumal is slightly on the lowerside than Sangu. It is ready for Gajendra Moksham.
10. Swami Raghavendrar is said to have done Puspa Kaikaryam to this perumal.
11. Boothathazhvar is said to have visited the temple daily while he was staying here.
12. One more interesting part is the small Anjaneyar in this temple. Everybody would have seen a picture of Anjaneyar in standing posture with his tail up with greenish thirumeni(body). This photo will be available in almost all the houses for which people use to keep sandhana pottu. The person who drew this anjaneyar refused to publish it till he found him in any temple. This Anjaneyar is here. Simply Beautiful with his hair completly dressed, showing pushpanjali in his hands(nails are very distinct).It is said that only after seeing this anjaneyar in 1971 he published his work to the public.
13. The temple is around 2500 years old. The main door of the temple itself is around 403 years old.
14. One more interesting thing about this temple is that this perumal is so Varaprasadhi(boon provider). Just by praying to him to give the first invitation of your wedding he sees to that the wedding is completed sucessfully.Bhattachariar showed some dozens of wedding invitations at the lords feet.
A beautiful temple and very charming perumal... Nature everywhere... sea nearby... simply superb... A must see temple....

How to Reach?
Though we travelled via Chengalpattu it is better to go by ECR. This place is about 12 kms from Mahabalipuram when u start from chennai on the Chennai-Pondicherry route. After 12 kms from Mahabalipuram you need to take a left and go inside....