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Temple Speciality

Temple Name

Sthalam

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Thiruvallur Veeraraghava Swamy Temple (or Veerarghavaswamy Temple) is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, located in Thiruvallur, Chennai Metropolitan City, an area and headquarters in Tiruvallur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Constructed in Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th&ndash;9th centuries CE.

It is counted as one among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu. Vishnu is worshipped as Veeraraghava Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Kanakavalli Thayar.

The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity and is believed to be initiated by the Pallavas of the late 8th century CE, with later contributions at different times from Thanjavur Nayaks. The temple has three inscriptions dating from the Chola period. The temple has a seven-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower) and enshrined within a granite wall. The complex contains all the shrines and Hritayathabhanasini, the temple tank, is located to the west of the temple. A Goshala (cow shed) is maintained by the temple administration.Veerraghava Perumal is believed to have appeared to marry his consort Lakshmi in the place.

The temple observes six daily rituals and three yearly festivals. The chariot festival and float festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March&ndash;April), is the most prominent festival of the temple. The jeers of Sri Ahobila Mutt are the hereditary trustees. The temple is maintained and administered by the Ahobila Mutt.

The temple is under the administration of Ahobila Mutt. It has five tiered Rajagopuram (main gate). There are separate shrines for Kanakavalli, Ganesha, Alwars, Gajalakshmi Thayaar. Here, the Lord married Vasumathi the daughter of a king Dharmasena. There are also shrines to Ganesha, Gopalan, Nammazhwar, Chakrattazhwar, Andal, Vedanta Desika, Ramanujacharyar, and Lakshmi Narasimhar.

The presiding deity Veeraraghava swamy is in a recumbent position (called Bhujanga sayanm) facing east. His right hand blesses the sage Salihotra and left hand in gnana mudra preaches to Brahma. The Vimanam (pyramidal roof over the sanctum) is called Vijayakoti Vimanam as it is a symbol of victory against Madhukaidapas asuras who were killed by Vishnu. The Thayar is called Kanakavalli (also known by the name Vasumati) and her shrine is located parallel to the sanctum. There are shrines of Azhwars, Ranganatha and Hanuman located around the sanctum in the first precinct. The sacred tank is called Hrutatapanasini.

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The presiding deity Veeraraghava Perumal is believed to cure diseases of his devotees and hence he is called &quot;Vaithiya Veeraraghavan&quot;. There is another legend that Lord Shiva got rid of his Brahmahathi Dosha after worshipping Vishnu in the place. There is a small shrine for Shiva in this temple premises.&nbsp;The temple tank, Hritayathabhanasini, is located to the West of the temple and is believed to have medicinal effects.There is an ornate four pillared black stone hall called Vellikizhamai mandapam where the festival image of the presiding deities are displayed every Friday.

The Vellikizhamai Mandapam, made of blackstone 
The temple is originally believed to have been built by the Pallavas during the 8th century. There are inscriptions dating back to the later half of the 9th century Pallava dynasty reign here. Local folklore claims that the temple is around 5000 years old. According to historian K.V. Soundararajan, the Rangantha temples in South India built during the 9th and 10th centuries have a systematic arrangement of subsidiary deities as seen in this temple along with the Appakkudathaan Perumal Temple at Koviladi, Sowmya Narayana Perumal temple at Thirukoshtiyur, Rajagopalaswamy temple at Mannargudi and Rangantha temple at Srirangapatna.&nbsp;

There are inscriptions in the temple from the period of Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1122 CE) indicating gift of 1000 kulis of land by Tiruvenkatadeva to the temple. The inscriptions from the eastern wall of the Vahanamandap indicates gift of 130 pons of gold by Veera Raghava Sadagoppa Jiyar, the thirteenth seer of Ahobila Mutt to the temple during 1630-75.

There are inscriptions indicating gift of lands to the temple by Vijaya nagar Kings were Ramadeva Maharaya (1620&ndash;30), Narasimha Deva, Vira Venkatapathi Rayadeva Maharayar and Sri Venkatarayadeva Mahakavi, Kulothunga Deva and Rajendra I. There are also inscriptions referring to the gift of lands for conducting various festivals by other kings in the region like Maduranthaka Deva, Sadasiva Maharaya (1542&ndash;1570), Rama Deva Raya (1617&ndash;1632) and Venkata III (1632-42).

Most scholars believe that the major structures of the temple were built by Vijayanagar kings during 14th century. There is an inscription on the Eastern wall in 1542 CE indicating grants to the temple by Thanjai nayak kings.

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Puranam

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Markandeya Purana details the history of the temple. A sage named Salihotra had his hermitage in this place. He used to grind rice for a living and offered half of the flour to the seekers and used to consume the rest himself. He was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. To test his devotion, Vishnu appeared as a guest to him one day. He requested Salihotra to offer him food, which the sage did.

The guest felt hungry and requested the sage to offer more food. The sage offered the other half portion of the flour which he used to consume himself. The guest asked a place to rest and the sage readily offered his hermitage. On arriving at the hermitage, the guest revealed his true form and blessed the sage.

As per another legend, Vishnu appeared in the place to marry Lakshmi, who was born as the daughter of Dilipa, the king of Dharmasenapura. He appeared in the place and married her.&nbsp;The place is also called Thiruevvul and Veshranniem.

As per yet another legend, Shiva was not invited by Daksha, the father of Dakshyani and wife of Siva for a big yagna (sacrifice). Siva, in his anger, opened his third eye out of which Virabhadra was created. He was directed by Siva to kill Daksha and he followed his orders. Siva incurred Brahmahatti Dosham on account of the execution. He was directed to the sacred tank of the temple to propitiate himself off the sins. The shrine of Siva in the form of Theertheswarar on the northern banks of the temple is believed to be place where Siva cleansed himself.

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Markandeya Puranam provides many details regarding this temple. The original names of this place were Punyavrata Kshetram and Veeksharanya Kshetram. It was also called Thiru Evvul which in course of time changed to Thiruvallur. The name Thiru Evvul is in connection with the temple tradition according to which Salihotra Muni visited this sacred place, bathed in the temple tank on Thai Amavasai day and performed penance.

He offered the food which he was to eat after his penance to an old man who visited him. This incident happened for two years in succession. The elderly person, after eating, wanting to rest, asked the sage for the right place (evvul) for him to rest. Salihotra Maharishi offered his hermitage and the visitor lay down with His head towards the south and feet pointing northwards. He revealed himself to be Lord Narayana. It is believed that those who have a bath in the temple tank and worship Veeraraghava Swami will be free of all diseases and miseries.

A tall archway which can be seen from a distance greets the visitor to the temple. On proceeding further down the road leading to the temple, the visitor sees an old mandapam with tall monolithic granite pillars studded with carvings of various deities like Krishna and Vira Hanuman and immediately in front, a newer mandapa leading to the tall five-tier gopuram.

The main deity of this temple, Veeraraghava Swami also known as Evvul Kaathan and Vaidya Veeraraghavan is enshrined under the Vijayakoti Vimanam. He is seen lying on the serpent Adisesha and hence this posture is called by the Sanskrit term Bhujangasayanam or Seshasayanam (reclining on the snake). The left hand of the God is bent at the elbow and stretched upwards towards Brahma who emanates from Perumal&#39;s navel.

The right hand is stretched outwards and rests near the head of Salihotra Muni who is seen in a kneeling posture with palms pressed in supplication. Perumal wears only checked clothes as Salihotra Maharishi had originally offered this to the God as a bark garment.

Goddess Lakshmi here, enshrined in a separate sanctum in the prakaram of this temple is worshipped as Kanakavalli Thayar and also as Vasumathi Thayar. Numerous other sanctums are seen inside the temple-complex for Yoga Narasimha, Sudarshana, Anantazhvan, Santhana Gopalan, Garuda, Rama, Andal, Lakshmi Narayana, Vishvaksena and Venugopala, as also those for the Azhvars and Acharyas like Thirukkachi Nambi, Ramanujacharya and Vedanta Desika. On the road perpendicular to the temple is a shrine for the peerless devotee, Anjaneya, while near the gopuram one can see a sanctum for Sri Adi Van Satakopan, the first Jeeyar of the Ahobila Math.

The very large temple tank on the south side of the temple, covering approximately seven acres, goes by the name Hrith-tapa-nasini Pushkarini which indicates that a bath in this tank absolves people of all sins, including those even occurring in one&#39;s mind or heart.

On new moon day, every month, hundreds of people can be seen bathing in this tank and then going to the temple to worship the deity to cure their diseases. On the banks of the pushkarini are two shrines, one for Navaneetha Krishna and another for Bhu Varaha. The Brindavanams of five Jiyars (pontiffs) of the Ahobilam Mutt are also near this tank. The Padhiri (Patali in Sanskrit) tree or trumpet flower tree, with its many medicinal properties and religious connections, has been traditionally held as the sacred tree or sthala vriksham of this temple.

A few Tamil inscriptions have been discovered in various parts of this temple which testify to its antiquity. The earliest of these was found etched on a step leading to the tank and belongs to the 9th century A.D. Pallava period. It records an endowment for burning a sacred lamp and for feeding a person who cleaned the temple.

On one of the stones of the west wall of the mahamandapa is an epigraph of Rajendra Chola I of the 11th century while another Chola record, discovered on the south wall of the central shrine refers to a gift of land for conducting festivals to the deity Pallirundarulina Emberuman of Thiruvevuli. A few other fragmentary Chola inscriptions appear to record gift for repairs and also for a festival in the month of Vaikasi by a devotee.

Several inscriptions of the Vijayanagara era and later times too have also been found here. One of these, found on the inner eastern wall of the Vahana Mandapa, dated 1630 A.D., belonging to the reign of Vira Venkata Raya II mentions that Vira Raghava Satakopa Jeeyar, who was the thirteenth pontiff of the Ahobila Math, who presided over this institution from 1630 to 1675 gifted gold to this temple, the interest from which was for celebrating certain festivals for Veeraraghava Swami and Thayar.

Other donations by the pontiffs of the Ahobila Math are also recorded in inscriptions of the Vijayanagara epoch. It is interesting to note that the royal emblem of the imperial house of Vijayanagar - that of a boar with a sword in front and the sun and moon above- is clearly sculpted on one of the walls in this temple.

The renovation of the rajagopuram, vimanams, mandapams, prakarams and other shrines were undertaken and the temple is ready for consecration.

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Varnam

Highlights

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Temple tank

Sevas/Festivals

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New Moon Day is auspicious for this Kshetram. During Fridays Thayaar will be taken to a separate mandapam for puja. Two annual festival are celebrated. Chitra Festival is also important here. Puliyodharai (Tamarind Rice), Dhadhyannam (Curd Rice), Pongal, Chakkarai Pongal, Vada, Adhirasam, Murukku are offered to Lord as Prasadam.

The temple follows the traditions of the Vadakalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and follows paancharatram 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 four 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 8:30 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Veeraraghava Perumal and Kanakavalli Thayar. During the last step of worship, nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) and Nalayira Divya Prabandam 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.

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During the Tamil month of Chittirai, Brahmotsavam, a 10-day festival is celebrated, the festival deity is taken in procession around the streets of the temple in different mounts each day and the float festival is celebrated on the last day. The other festivals associated with Vishnu temples like Krishna Jayanthi, Saturdays of Tamil month Puratassi, Navratri, Vaikunta Ekadasi and Vijayadasami are celebrated during the respective days.

The Maha Samprokshanam of the Veeraraghavaswamy temple will be held on June 7, between 5.15 a.m. and 6.15 a.m. under the personal supervision of Sri Azhagiasingar of Sri Ahobila Math.

Festivals

Numerous festivals are celebrated in this temple in which the codes of the Pancharatra Agama are followed.

Two Brahmotsavams are held here, each for ten days- one in the month of Thai (mid-January to mid-February) and the other in Chittirai (mid-April to mid-May).

Two Theppotsavams, (float-festivals), each for three days- one in Ani (mid-June to mid-July) and another in Masi (mid-February to mid-March), both starting from new moon day.

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