Taamaraiyaal Kelvan Perumal Temple

Introduction

Taamaraiyaal Kelvan Perumal Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is located near Thirunangur, which is a small village, 8 km east of Sirkali en route to Thiruvenkadu.

The temple is significant as it holds its place in one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu. People worship the deity as aamariyaal Kelvan and his consort Lakshmi as Shegamalavalli.

The temple has an architectural style from the Dravidian era, and it has its glory in Divya Prabandha revered by Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD.

Here we would get to know more factors about this temple.

Puranic Significance

Padmapurana has mentioned the importance of this temple. As per the legend, the five Pandavas from the epic Mahabharatha reached this temple during a pilgrimage.

The Pandavas were thirsty, and they saw sage Agastya doing penance. However, there was no water at that place and with the sage. They then asked the sage, and he advised them to pray to Lord Krishna as the sage had realized that Arjun was none other than Lord Krishna himself.

Upon praying to the Lord, Krishna appeared and offered Arjuna a sword. With this sword, Arjun was able to dig deep into the land and found a water reservoir which is now the water tank in the temple. Hence the temple also has Arjun depicted in the temple holding a sword.

The place is called Parthanpalli, which means school; it is dedicated to the teaching of Krishna. The Lord became Parthasarathy of Arjuna and helped him understand who Arjuna was. Hence the name comes.

There are eleven temples in Thirunangur, and all these temples revolve around one major legend. The legend is about Lord Shiva, who was dancing in his furious form after the death of his consort Uma. It is said that each time his hair lock touched the ground, eleven other forms of Shiva appeared.

The deities of heaven were fearful that if the dance continued, it would devastate the entire creation. They approached Lord Vishnu and requested him to stop Shiva. Lord Vishnu reached the place of Shiva, and seeing him, Shiva’s anger reduced. Shiva also requested Vishnu to appear in eleven forms at Tirunangur.

These eleven places were later turned into eleven temples where several great sages like Agastya, Bharathwaj, Gautama, and Varuna came later to perform the penance. The Ekadasa Rudra form of Shiva worships Vishnu at this place.

Special Features

The temple features a single prakaram that separates the shrines. Here the Lord Tamariyan Kelvan Perumal faces East, Shenbagavalli Thayar faces East and Arjuna as well. Narayana Vimanam and the water tank in the temple are called Katka Theertham.

There are images of Tamaraiyan Kalvan, Krishna, and Rama, which are situated in the shrine of Tamarayan Kelvan. Hence this becomes the only temple where Lord Rama and Krishna are placed together in the same shrine.

The raja gopuram faces West, and it is surrounded by walls. The temple tank found by Arjuna is located in the South direction and is outside the temple complex. The temple also features a specific hall where chariots are placed.

Festivals Celebrated

Thirumangai Azhwar Mangalasasana Utsavam and Garudasevai arrive in January or February. The Vaikasi Brahmmotsavam arrives in May or June. The temple remains open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The priest comes and performs puja daily during the festivals. The rituals here happen four times a day which the priest performs in Ushathkalam at 8 a.m., Kalasanthi at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., and Ardha Jamam at 7:00 p.m.

Each ritual covers three steps: decoration, a food offering, and arti. The priest then recites the religious texts of the Vedas. Devotees come to witness the Lord and prostrate to offer him prayers and to seek blessings. Weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals are also performed here.

When it is about the festival Theerthavari, which arrives on the New moon day of Tamil month of Aadi, the temple takes the procession to the sea. On the new moon day of the Tamil month Thai, people bring the deity Thirumangai Azhwar to the temple from Thiruvali-Thirunagari.

The Thirumangai Azhwar festival happens in the Tamil month of Thai (January–February). This holds much significance because people bring the eleven Thirunangur Tirupathis or the eleven forms of the Lord on mount Garuda Vahana to Thirunangur.