Nanguneri Sri Vanamamalai Perumal Temple, Tirunelveli

Address

Nanguneri Sri Vanamamalai Perumal Temple, Nanguneri, Tirunelveli District, Phone no 04635 250119

Diety

Thothadrinathan, Amman: Vara Mangai Thayar

Introduction

Vanamamalai Perumal Temple, also known as Arulmigu Sree Vanamamalai Totatri Perumal Temple is dedicated to the god Vishnu, in Vanamamalai or Totadrikshetram (Nanguneri), Tamil Nadu, India on the banks of Thamiraparani river. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwarsaints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam shrines dedicated to Sri Vishnu. Sri Vishnu is worshipped here as Vanamalai Perumal and his consort Devi Lakshmi as Varamanagi. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pandyas, with later contributions from Vijayanagar kings and Madurai Nayaks. The temple covers an area of 5 acres (20,000 m2) and has a five-tiered temple tower.

Puranic Significance

The details about the presiding deity finds mention in Brhamananda Purana, Skanda Purana and Narasimha Purana. Sage Narada got the narration about the features of Thodatri and Sargunamangai from Shiva.[2] As per Hindu legend, Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu is believed to have born at this place as Srivaramangai (meaning lady) and hence the place came to be known as Varangunamangai. As per another legend, Adisesha ,the serpent performed penance at this place to seek the grace of Vishnu to lay on him. Vishnu was pleased by his devotion and rested on the serpent. Garuda, the eagle also performed penance and was granted a wish to be guarding Vaikunta, the residence of Vishnu. As per local legend, a childless king named Kaaarya worshiped Vishnu at this place. Vishnu directed him to Nanguneri under the earth. The king dug up the earth to see blood oozing from the place. To stop the blood, the king was asked to perform ablution on the presiding deity with oil everyday. Blessed with children, the king constructed the temple. The temple has many inscriptions, the earliest of which is from 1236 CE. The inscription is from the period of Sundara Pandya I indicates an gift from him on the occasion of Adi Puram. Another inscription from 1275 from Kulasekara I indicates the details of tax collection in the region. The inscription on the Eastern Gopuram from the period of Sundara Pandya II in 1284 indicates gift of land to the temple. The gift of Vikrama Pandya III is inscribed on the northern wall in 1299. A gift of money to sculpt the image of Sadagopar in 1305 is found in the Eastern wall in the second precinct. From the Vijayanagara rulers, the temple came under the administration of kings of Travancore. A sanyasi named Pushpanjali was entrusted with the donations from the kings. During 1447, the temple came under the administration of Vanamamalai Mutt. The first pontiff of the temple arranged for the installation of the idol of the consort of Vanamamalai from Tirupathi. The Namboodris were also replaced by the priests from Tirupathi during the period. During the 17th century, the then pontiff sought the help of the ruling Naik king to resolve local disputes. During 1794, the Nawab of Carnatic, Abdul Umra, endowed extensive lands to the Mutt.

Special Features

The temple has a large five-tiered gopuram (gateway tower) and a large temple compound having two prakarams (closed precincts of a temple) There are various pillared halls in the temple. The presiding deity, Vanamamalai Perumal is seen seated on the Adisesha, the serpent deity. Sridevi and Bhoodevi, the two consorts of Perumal are seen on either sides of the presiding deity The shrine of the presiding deity is located axial to the gateway tower and approached through Ardhamandapam and Mahamandapam, pillared halls. There are three precincts in the temple, with the shrine of Thayar located in the second precinct. There is a festival hall in the second precinct in the temple facing South that has sculpted pillars indicating various legends of the Puranas. The most notable of them being a legend of Mahabharata where Bhima attacks a lion legged person with his club. The second precinct has pillared halls that has smaller sculpted representation indicating various avatars of Vishnu.