Thalachangadu Sri Naanmadhia Perumal Temple, Nagapattinam

Address

Thalachangadu Sri Naanmadhia Perumal Temple, Thalaichanga Naanmadhiam, (Thalachangadu)-609 107, Nagapattinam district. Phone: +91- 99947 29773

Diety

Naanmadiya Perumal, Amman: Sengamalavalli

Introduction

The Naanmadiya Perumal Temple is a vishnu temple situated in the village of Thalaichangadu, near Akkur in Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity is the Hindu god Vishnu. It is one of the “Divya Desams”, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars. The place finds mention in Brahmanda Purana. Vishnu worshiped Shiva to acquire the famous conch, Panchajanyam. There is a famous Sayavaneswarar Temple, dedicated to Shiva in the same village, where Vishnu is believed to have worshiped Shiva. It is believed that Vishnu appeared for Chandra, the moon god, who worshiped Vishnu at this place. Since the presiding deity holds the famous conch, this place came to be known as Talaichankam, with Cankam meaning conch. Theertham : Chandra Pushkarini

Puranic Significance

When Devas and the demons churned the milk ocean for nectar, Chandra appeared before Sri Mahalakshmi, hence enjoys the status as Her elder brother. He occupies the second place next to Sun in the planetary line. The other story is that he was born to Sage Athiri and his wife Anusuya, according to Puranas. Moon is handsome and is the disciple of Jupiter and well versed in scriptures. He conducted a yajna called Raja Suya which was attended a huge number of Rishis and Dhara wife of Jupiter. When they looked at each other in the event, they began to love each other. Shocked Deva Guru Jupiter reported this to Lord Vishnu and cursed his disciple with leprosy. Meantime, a son was born to Moon and Dhara named Bhudha, also a planet called Mercury. As advised by Lord Vishnu, Moon returned Dhara to his Guru. Budha hated his father for his misdeed, performed severe penance and became a planet. Moon committed the next mistake. He married the 27 daughters of Daksha promising him that he would treat each one with equal love. But he did not. He was very fond of Rohini alone and ignored others. The aggrieved daughters approached their father-Daksha and narrated their condition. Angry Daksha cursed that his handsome face will depreciate day by day. Full moon began to face the impact of the curse. Chandra had to suffer a double curse. He surrendered at the feet of Lord Vishnu for relief. Perumal advised Chandra to visit Srirangam, Tiru Indalur and Thalaichanga Naanmadiyam, have a dip in the sacred springs there and perform penance on Him for relief. Chandra meticulously followed Lord’s advice and got the relief at this place-Thalaichanga Naanmadiyam. Lord granted darshan to Chandra and also wore him as an ornament on His head.

Beliefs

Those facing adverse aspects of planet Moon are advised to come to this temple and worship Lord and Mother for relief.

Special Features

The temple has a shrine for Naanmadiya Perumal facing east. It has an invaluable conch. It is located on the southern bank of river Kaveri. The place was very famous during the Chola regime for conch as it was closer to their port town Poompuhar. The place finds mention in the Sangam literature Silapadikaram. The temple and the place has been patronized by the Chola kings. The temple was in a dilapidated condition and it was renovated by Suntara Ramanuja