Uthiramerur Vaikunda Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

Address

Uthiramerur Vaikunda Perumal Temple, Uthiramerur, Kanchipuram District, Tamilnadu- – 603406

Diety

Vaikunda Perumal Amman: Lakshmi as Anandavalli

Introduction

The Vaikunta Perumal Temple in Uthiramerur, a village in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu, is dedicated to the god Vishnu. The temple is constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture. Vishnu is worshipped as Vaikunta Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Anandavalli. The building is declared as a heritage monument and administered by the Archeological Survey of India. Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India was inspired by the system after paying a visit to the temple and insisted on improving Panchayat Raj, India’s system of local bodies in villages.

Puranic Significance

Uthiramerur was ruled by the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Sambuvaraya, Vijayanagara Rayas and Nayaks. As per the inscriptions in the temple, the Pallava king Nandivarman II (Pallavamalla) 730–795 CE established the village. It is believed that he donated the village to Vedic Brahmins from Srivaishanva community. The Cholas captured the region and it came under their dominion during the latter part of 9th century. There are inscriptions from the period of Parantaka Chola I, Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I and Kulothunga Chola I indicating various gifts to the temples. The process of democratically electing the local representatives through a system called Kudavolai during the Chola regime is documented in the inscriptions. The temple is known for the inscriptions indicating the democratic practices of electing representatives for the village bodies during the regime of Parantaka Chola. The Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya made contributions to the Vaikunta temple, Subramanya temple and Kailasanatha temple in the village. The temple is declared as a heritage monument and administered by the Archeological Survey of India.

Special Features

Vaikunta Perumal temple covers an area of about 0.5 acres (0.20 hectares). The sanctum houses the image of Vaikuntanatha in seated posture with Sridevi and Bhudevi on his either sides. There is an assembly hall 2,500 sq. ft. (230 m2). The roof of the temple rests on the walls and there are no pillars. As per the view, the entire structure was originally an assembly hall and it collapsed during the regime of Kulothunga Chola. He rebuilt the assembly hall along with the temple housing the image of Vaikunta Perumal in it.

Festivals

Purattasi Brahmotsavam, Panguni Uthiram, Masi Makam, Vaikasi Visakam, Thiru Karthikai, Vaikunda Ekadashi and Sravana Deepam are the festivals celebrated here.