Thiruppaarththanpalli Sri Taamaraiyaal Kelvan Perumal, Nagapattinam

Address

Thiruppaarththanpalli Sri Taamaraiyaal Kelvan Perumal, Thiruppaarththanpalli , Thirunangur Tamil Nadu 609 114

Diety

Taamaraiyaal Kelvan Perumal, Amman: TaamariNayagai

Introduction

Taamaraiyaal Kelvan Perumal Temple or Thiruppaarththanpalli is located close to Thirunangur, a small village, 8 km east of Sirkali en route to Thiruvenkadu and is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. 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 Taamariyaal Kelvan and his consort Lakshmi as Shegamalavalli.

Puranic Significance

Padmapurana details the legend associated with the temple. As per Hindu legend, Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas from the epic Mahabharatha reached this place on a pilgrimage. He was thirsty and sought water from sage Agastya who was doing penance. There was no water with the sage and all places around. Agastya realised that it was the trick of god Krishna, who was the Lord of Arjuna. He advised Arjuna to pray Krishna, who did accordingly. Krishna was pleased with the prayer of Arjuna and offered him a sword. Arjuna dug the land with the sword which resulted in a gush of water resulting in the Katka Pushkarani, the temple tank. Arjuna is depicted in the temple sporting a sword, following the legend. Krishna also appeared to Arjuna as Parthasarathy and initiated his knowledge to understand who he actually was. Since Parthasarathy initiated education here for Arjuna, the place is called Parthanpalli. (Parthan + Palli, meaning school). The legend of all the eleven temples of Thirunangur are closely associated with each other. As per legend, the Hindu god Shiva started dancing in fury at this place after the death of his consort Uma due to the yagna (sacrifice) of Daksha. Each time his lock of hair touched the ground, there were eleven other forms of Shiva who appeared. The celestial deities were worried that if the dance continues, it would result in decimation of entire creations. They prayed to Vishnu for help, who appeared at this place. On seeing Vishnu, Shiva’s anger was reduced and he requested Vishnu to appear in eleven forms like he did. On his request, Vishnu appeared in eleven different forms at Tirunangur. The eleven places where Vishnu appeared are believed to be where the eleven temples in Tirunangur are located. It is believed that several sages like Agastya, Bharathwaj, Gautama and Varuna performed penance at this place. It is believed that Ekadasa Rudra, a form of Shiva, is believed to have worshiped Vishnu at this place.

Special Features

The temple complex has a single prakaram(closed precincts of a temple) and separate shrines for Tamariyan Kelvan Perumal facing west, Shenbagavalli Thayar facing east and Arjuna. The vimana of the temple is called Narayana Vimanam and water body associated with the temple is called Katka Theertham. The festival images of Tamaraiyan Kalvan, Krishna and Rama, are stored in the shrine of Tamarayan Kelvan. This is the only temple where the images of Rama and Krishna are housed in the same shrine. The main gateway tower, the rajagopuram faces west and the temple is surrounded by walls. The temple tank is located in the southern side outside the temple complex. There is a separate hall in the temple complex that houses the chariot and festival chariots