Thirunindravur Sri Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple, Thiruvallur

Address

Thirunindravur Sri Bhaktavatsala Perumal Kovil, Thirunindravur, Mandapam Street, Thiruninravur, Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu 602024.

Diety

Bakthavatsala (Vishnu), Amman: Ennai Petra Thayar

Introduction

Sri Bakthavatsala Perumal temple is a Hindu temple, located at Thirunindravur, a western suburb of Chennai, India, is dedicated to the Hindu deityVishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Bhaktavatsala Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Ennai Petra Thayar. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallavas of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagar kings. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all the shrines and two bodies of water. There is a four-tiered rajagopuram, the temple’s gateway tower, in the temple. Bhatavatsala Perumal is believed to have appeared to Kubera. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Krishna Janmasthami festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Aavani (August–September), being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Puranic Significance

As per Hindu legend, Once Lord Chandran had an affair with Lord Guru’s wife Thara. Lord Guru cursed him. He did penance and prayed the Lord Bhathavathsala Perumal. Lord Chandran got rid out of the curse, after taking a holy bath in the Dharsana Pushkarani at Thirukkannamangai. There is a story that Lord Shiva is safe guarding the Lord “Bakthavathsala perumal” in this temple from all the four directions. The temple was built during the Pallava period of 9th century as seen from the various inscriptions in the temple. The earliest inscriptions of the temple is dated between 820 and 890 AD during the period of Nripatungavarman. There are inscriptions from the later Chola kings like Rajendra Chola II (1051–1063 AD), Virarajendra Chola (1063–1070 AD) and Rajaraja Chola II (1146–1173 AD). The Pallava inscriptions mention this place as Ninravur and some of them quote it as Virudhurajabhayankar-chaturvertimangalam, a sub-division of Punarkottam.

Special Features

The temple is estimated to be 1500 years old. The temple has a 5 tier gopuram at the entrance and two precincts. The Moolavar(presiding deity) of the temple is Bakthavasala. The Moolavar is at a standing position facing east. The height of the Moolavar is around 10 ft (3.0 m). The Utsavar(procession deity) is called Patharaavi is made of panchaloha and is accompanied by two consorts as in most Vaishnavite temples. There is a separate shrine for Ennai Petra Thayar also called Sudhavalli, the consort of Bakthavasala. The temple also has separate shrines for Andal, Chakkarathazhwar, the Alwars and Sri Ramanuja. On the banks of a lake a few meters behind this temple is another temple for Rama. In this temple there is a statue of Hanuman lifting Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders. The temple is administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department of Tamil Nadu government. The Pedda Jeeyar of Tirupathi is the permanent trustee of the temple.