Thirupuliyangudi Perumal Temple

ThiruPuliangudi Perumal Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Thoothukudi
Deity	Kasinivendan Perumal (Vishnu) Malarmagal Nachiar (Lakshmi)
Features	Tower: Veda saara Temple tank: Varuna
Location
Location	Thirupuliangudi
State	Tamil Nadu
Country	India
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	8°38′23.1″N77°55′58.0″E / 8.639750°N 77.932778°E / 8.639750; 77.932778 Coordinates: 8°38′23.1″N77°55′58.0″E / 8.639750°N 77.932778°E / 8.639750; 77.932778
Architecture
Type	Dravidian architecture
Elevation	41 m (135 ft)

ThiruPuliangudi Permual Temple is one of the Nava Tirupathi, the nine Hindu temples dedicated to Vishnu located in Tiruchendur-Tirunelveli route, Tamil Nadu, India in the banks of Thamiraparani river, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu who is worshipped as Bhoomipalar and Lakshmi as Pulingudivalli. It is located 22 km from Tirunelveli. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha , the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Vaikuntanathar and his consort Lakshmi as Vaikuntavalli. ^[1] The temple is also classified as a Navatirupathi, the nine temples revered by Nammazhwar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. ^[2] The temple is one of the Navagraha temples in Vaishnavism, associated with Budha.

A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The rajagopuram , the temple's gateway tower, is flat in structure. The temple follows Thenkalai tradition of worship. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the ten-day annual Vaikanda Ekadasi during the Tamil month of Margazhi (December - January) and the Nammazhwar birth celebrations with Garudasevai with all nine temple of Navatirupathi, being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Legend

As per Hindu legend, once while taking a round around earth, Vishnu settled down at this place. Boomadevi was upset that Vishnu did not meet him in spite of coming down to earth and was greedy with Sridevi. She left the land and went away in anger. On account of her movement, the living bodies in earth started decaying. Devas were worried and worshipped Vishnu to relieve the earth of the issue. Vishnu went down to netherworld along with Sridevi to meet Bhoomadevi. Bhoomadevi was convinced and returned to earth when all things came back to life. Since Vishnu saved the world and rescued it, he was called Bhoomipalakar, the saver of the earth. ^[3]

Architecture

The temple is located in Tiruchendur-Tirunelveli route, Tamil Nadu, India in the banks of Thamiraparani river, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The temple is constructed in Dravidian style of architecture. All the shrines of the temple are located in a rectangular granite structure. The temple has an imposing image of Vishnu, a lotus stalk from the navel of the image emanates the image of Brahma. The feet of the deity can be viewed through the passage. The temple has two prakarams (closed precincts of a temple). The images of Bhoodevi and Sridevi along with the festival images are located inside the sanctum. ^[4]

Festival

Image of the sanctum and view of foot of Ranganathar

The Garuda Sevai utsavam (festival) in the month of Vaikasi (May-Jun) witnesses nine Garudasevai , a spectacular event in which festival image idols from the Nava Tirupathis shrines in the area are brought on Garuda vahana (sacred vehicle). An idol of Nammalvar is also brought here on a Anna Vahanam (palanquin) and his paasurams (verses) dedicated to each of these nine temples are recited. The utsavar (festival deity) of Nammalvar is taken in a palanquin to each of the nine temples, through the paddy fields in the area. The paasurams (poems) dedicated to each of the nine Divyadesams are chanted in the respective shrines. This is the most important of the festivals in this area, and it draws thousands of visitors. ^{[5] [6]}

The temple follows the traditions of the Thenkalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and follows Pancharathra aagama. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day: Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Bhoomipalar and Pulingudivalli. During the last step of worship, nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. ^[7]

Religious significance

Brahmanda Purana one of the eighteen sacred texts of Hinduism and written by Veda Vyasa contains a chapter called Navathirupathi Mahatmeeyam. The first part of the chapter refers to Srivaikuntam. Vaikunta Mahatmeeyam is another work in Sanskrit that glorifies the temple and is a part of Tamraparani Sthalapurana available only in palm manuscripts. ^[8] The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham , the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Nammazhwar. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam , one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. The temple is also classified as a Navatirupathi, the nine temples revered by Nammazhwar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. The temple is next only to Alwarthirunagari Temple in terms of importance among the nine Navatirupathi temple. ^{[4] [7]} Nammazhwar makes a reference about the temple in his works in Thirvaimozhi. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple finds mention in several works like 108 Tirupathi Anthathi by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar. The temple also forms a series of Navagraha temples where each of the nine planetary deities of one of the temples of Navatirupathi. The temple is associated with the planet Budha (Mercury). ^{[9] [4]}

References

1. M. S., Ramesh (1993). 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desams: Divya desams in Pandya Nadu. Tirumalai-Tirupati Devasthanam..
2. Rajarajan, R.K.K. (2011). "Dakṣiṇamūrti on vimānas of Viṣṇu Temples in the Far South". South Asian Studies. 27 (2): 131–144. doi:10.1080/02666030.2011.614413. S2CID   194022781 – via https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2011.614413.{{cite journal}}: External link in |via= (help)
3. A., Radha; Dr. G., Paranthaman (2020). "Dasavatharam and Navagrahas in Historical Perspective". Tamil Journal of Temple Studies. 1: 8.
4. M., Rajagopalan (1993). 15 Vaishnava Temples of Tamil Nadu. Chennai, India: Govindaswamy Printers. pp. 155–159.
5. Suriya (2015). Jothirlingam: The Indian Temple Guide. Partridge Publishing. p. 30. ISBN   9781482847864.
6. Anantharaman, Ambujam (2006). Temples of South India. East West Books (Madras). pp. 33–43. ISBN   978-81-88661-42-8.
7. "Sri Bhoomipalar temple". Dinamalar. 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
8. V., Meena. Temples in South India. Kanniyakumari: Harikumar Arts. pp. 8–9.
9. "Amazing posture at Srivaikuntam". The Hindu . 15 November 2001. Archived from the original on 29 January 2003. Retrieved 25 October 2015.