Nava Tirupathi, Srivaikuntanathan Perumal Temple: Where The Lord Favoured A Thief!

Add as a preferred source on Google

Srivaikuntanathan Perumal temple is the first of the Nava Tirupathi or the nine ancient temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu, on the banks of the Thamiraparani River. It is located in Srivaikuntam, a small town, which is 22 km from Tirunelveli, in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. It has three legends associated with it.

The Legend of Srivaikuntanathan Perumal temple of Nava Tirupathi

There are three interesting legends associated with the Srivaikuntanathan Perumal temple of the Nava Tirupathi temples. When Somukasura stole the four Vedas from Lord Brahma, the latter engaged in severe penance on the banks of the Thamiraparani river, seeking the Grace of Lord Vishnu to retrieve the Vedas.

Lord Vishnu, pleased by the penance of Lord Brahma assumed the form of a fish (Matsya Avatar) and restored the Vedas to Lord Brahma by vanquishing Somukasura. He also assumed the name Srivaikuntanathan and the place came to be called as Srivaikuntam.

As per another legend, Srivaikuntanathan's idol got buried under the earth for want of maintenance after a period of time. One of the cows from the King's herd which happened to graze there relieved its milk on the spot where the idol lay buried. The king, coming to know that one particular cow was not yielding any milk at all, instructed his men to watch over that cow.

When the men carried the news to the king, the king got the place dug up to find the idol of Srivaikuntanathan there. He renovated and expanded the temple and got the idol duly installed. Hence the Lord came to be acknowledged as 'Pal Pandian', the word 'Pal' meaning milk in Tamil.

The third story is of the Lord favouring a thief named Kaladushana. The Pandya king was in a frenzy to arrest Kaladushana and his comrades. Though the king succeeded in capturing the troop of Kaladushana, he could not set his hands on the thief. Kaladushana beseeched the Lord to protect him and his troop.

The Lord in order to save Kaladushana, assumed the form of the thief and surrendered to the king. That night he appeared in the king's dream and narrated the turn of events to the king. He revealed that that the ill-gotten wealth would be stolen and and distributed to the right people. The king, who came to know of the truth, freed Kaladushana and his men. Thus the Lord came to be fondly acknowledged as 'Kalla Piran' for favouring a thief, the word 'Kalla' meaning 'thief'.

Nava Tirupathi, Srivaikuntanathan temple Significance

Srivaikuntanathan Perumal temple belonging to the group of Nava Tirupathi temples is one among the 108 Divyadesams or temples of Vishnu. The presiding deity is Vaikuntanathan and his consort Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped as Vainkunthavalli.

It is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the Tamil canon by the Alwars saints or the devotees of Lord Vishnu from the 6th to 9th centuries CE. It is also one among the Navagraha temples in Vaishnavism associated with the planet Surya. There is also a chapter known as 'Nava Tirupathi Mahatmeeyam' in the Brahmandapurana by saint Veda Vyasa, where the first part of the chapter deals with Srivaikuntam.

'Vaikunta Mahatmeeyam', a part of the ' Thamiraparani Sthalapurana' in Sanskrit also extols the temple. An unique factor of the temple is that there is a shrine dedicated to Nataraja with eight exquisitely carved pillars and thus Srivaikuntam is also called as Kailasapuram. The roof of the temple with a golden stupa installed on the top is called the Chandra Vimana.

The Garuda Sevai Utsavam, an annual festival is celebrated in this area with pomp and show where the nine idols of the Nava Tirupathi on Garuda Vahana are brought. This is a very important festival and thousands throng to witness it.

It is auspicious to visit the temple on a Sunday. The temple is open from 7 AM to 12 PM and 5 to 8 PM. Let us thus worship Srivaikuntanathan Perumal to shower us with his blessings.