Kooram Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

Address

Kooram Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram Kooram, Kanchipuram Taluk, Kanchipuram District – 631 558 Mobile: +91 97103 21166

Diety

Aadhi Kesava Perumal, Koorathazhwar.

Introduction

Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Kooram Village near Kanchipuram City in Kanchipuram Taluk in Kanchipuram District of Tamil Nadu. The temple complex consists of two temples. The first temple is dedicated to Aadhi Kesava Perumal and the second temple is dedicated to Koorathazhwar. Kooram is the birthplace of Koorathazhwar, an important Vaishnavite Guru

Puranic Significance

Koorathazhwar, also known as Kuresa and Srivatsanka Mishra, was the chief disciple of the great Vaishnavite acharya Ramanuja. He assisted Ramanuja in all his endeavors. He was born as Kuresan in a small hamlet Kooram near Kanchipuram, in the year of 1010 A.D, in an affluent family. He belonged to the clan of Haritha, who were popular landlords. Koorathazhwar was married at a young age to Andal, a devoted and pious lady. Both of them led a happy and peaceful life. They were deeply devoted to Lord Varadaraja Perumal. The pious couple was very famous in the holy town of Kanchipuram, for their unstinting philanthropy and kindness. Their children were Parasara Bhattar and Veda Vyasa Bhattar. Kuresan was heavily influenced by the teachings of Ramanujacharya, who was staying in Kanchipuram at that time. It was the time when Ramanuja’s teachings were growing popular and his fame was slowly spreading. Kuresan quickly approached Ramanuja and became his disciple. A bond was established between them and under the effective guidance of Ramanuja, Kuresan was initiated into rigorous study of Vedic scriptures and other holy works. Meanwhile, due to other plans of the Lord, Ramanuja moved to Srirangam and the friendship between Ramanuja and Koorathazhwar came to a temporary end. Later Koorathazhwar continued his earlier philanthropic works. Once, it happened that Lord Varadaraja Perumal and his Consort Perundevi Piratti heard a heavy sound of a door being closed. The actual reason was that, Kuresan had closed the brass doors of his home, after completing his daily routine of feeding the poor. By the order of the Lord, who appeared in the dream, the chief priest arrived at the door step of Kuresan to bring him to the Lord. On hearing this news, rather than feeling happy, Kuresan was extremely saddened, as he thought that it was a sin on his part to disturb the Lord and his consort at the night time, by announcing his charity activities. This incident created turmoil in the mind of Kuresan, which was a turning point in his life. At once he and his wife decided to renounce all their belongings and move to Srirangam, where Ramanuja was staying. On reaching Srirangam, the couple was given a warm welcome and Ramanuja was very happy to have his old friend again. Kuresan became a disciple of Ramanuja and assisted him in all his works such as spiritual study, management of the temple, philosophical compositions and many others. Soon Koorathazhwar became the hand and eye of Sri Ramanujacharya. One of the main aims of Ramanujacharya was to compose the Sri Bhashya. To compose this work, he wanted to refer Bodhayana’s vritti Brahma Sutras, an ancient parchment. This work was available in the royal library of the state of Kashmir. Ramanujacharya and Koorathazhwar, along with certain other disciples undertook the tedious journey to Kashmir and met the king of that state. The king was very much pleased with these men of divine nature and immediately granted them access to the library. But the pundits of that place were not pleased with the outsiders and troubled them a lot. They put forth a condition that the vritti shall not leave the library. So, Ramanujacharya and Koorathazhwar decided to read the vritti within the premises of the library itself. To incur more trouble, the pundits went still further to put a condition that no notes must be taken, by reading the vritti. Then Ramanujacharya decided to return to Srirangam and they started their journey back south. Ramanujacharya was disappointed for not making adequate reading of the vritti. But after reaching Srirangam he realized that he had lost nothing. Koorathazhwar had read the entire text of the vritti and had memorized it completely. He was able to recall the vritti, instantly and accurately word-by-word. With great sense of fulfillment, Ramanujacharya completed the Sri Bhashya, which was a commentary on the Brahmasutras. Sri Bhashya was completed mainly because of the involvement of Koorathazhwar. His works include Sri Vaikunta Stavam, Athimanusha Stavam, Sundarabahu Stavam, Varadaraja Stavam and Sri Stavam. These five works were collectively known as Panchastavee. After a certain period of time, the glory of Sri Ramanujacharya spread far and wide. Along with it, grew the number of enemies, i.e. the people who became jealous on Sri Ramanujacharya. At that time, the present Chola king was influenced by certain groups and he ordered Sri Ramanujacharya to be brought to his court. Coming to know this, Koorathazhwar immediately rushed back to the mutt in Srirangam and requested Sri Ramanujacharya and the others to move away to some safer place. Though not interested in moving, Sri Ramanujacharya had to oblige to his adamant disciples. When the soldiers came to the mutt, Koorathazhwar was dressed up as Ramanujacharya. Mistaken they took him along with Sri Mahapurna (Periya Nambi) to the royal court in Gangaikonda Cholapuram. At the court the King thrust a written declaration which read: “Nothing higher than Siva exists” and commanded them both to affix their signatures to it without protest. But both of them refused and argued the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, quoting from the Vedas, Upanishads and various other holy texts. At a stage, the king got furious and ordered their eyes to be pulled out. On hearing the statement, Koorathazhwar replied that he doesn’t need the eyes which have seen a sinner like the king and he pulled away his eyes himself. The eyes of Mahapurna were also gorged by the soldiers and they were sent away from the court. The ripe-aged Mahapurna died on the way to Srirangam. Sri Ramanujacharya meanwhile had moved to Melkote in Karnataka along with his disciples and established Vaishnavism there with the support of the local king. After the turbulence period of over 12 years had got over, Sri Ramanujacharya returned to Srirangam and the old friends reunited. Koorathazhwar lived for some more years and attained the holy feet of the Lord. It is said that Lord Rama took birth as Koorathazhwar to serve Ramanuja who was nothing but Lakshmana as a gratitude to all the services rendered by Lakshmana to Rama.

Special Features

The Temple complex consists of two temples. Both the Temples are believed to be more than 1000 years old. The first temple is dedicated to Aadhi Kesava Perumal and the second temple is dedicated to Koorathazhwar. Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple: This Temple is the major temple in the temple complex. This temple is facing towards east with single prakaram. Dhwaja Sthambam, Balipeedam and Garuda can be seen facing the Sanctum. The Sanctum Sanctorum consists of Sanctum, Ardha Mandapam and Maha Mandapam. Presiding Deity is called as Aadhi Kesava Perumal and is facing east; He is housed in the sanctum along with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoodevi. All are found in standing posture. Utsava idol is Aadhi Kesava Perumal and he is exact replica of the presiding deity. Mother is called as Pankaja Valli Thayar. She is housed in a separate east facing shrine. She is found in sitting posture. There are shrines for Goddess Andal, Chakrathazhwar with Narasimha on his back and Swayambhu Hanuman in the prakaram. There is a shrine of Desikan, found separately at the exterior side of the temple. There is a small idol of Hanuman can be seen in this Shrine. Koorathazhwar Temple: This Temple is the second temple in the temple complex and is situated to the left side of Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple. This temple is facing towards south with three tiered Rajagopuram. Presiding Deity is Koorathazhwar in this temple. The sanctum houses an idol of Koorathazhwar in the sitting posture. It is believed that the room where he was born was converted into his shrine. The bronze Utsava idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman, which are believed to be around 1000 years old and were worshiped by the parents of Koorathazhwar, are also placed along with his idol in the sanctum. Paintings depicting his life can be seen on the walls surrounding the sanctum. There are shrines for Manavala Mamunigal, Senai Mudalvar, Pillai Lokacharyar, Ramanuja, Parasara Bhattar, Nammazhvar and Thirumangai Azhwar in the prakaram.

Festivals

Udaiyavar Satrumurai during Chithirai, 3 days Pradishta Utsavam, Nammazhvar & Parasara Bhattar Satrumurai during Vaikasi, Sudarshana Jayanthi during Aani, Adipooram during Aani, Sri Jayanthi during Avani, Maha Navami during Purattasi, Manavala Mamunigal, Vishwakasena & Pillai Lokacharyar Satrumurai during Aippasi, Thirumangai Azhwar Satrumurai & Thiru Karthigai Deepam during Karthigai, Margazhi Utsavam, Bhogi Serthi & Azhwar Thiru Nakshatram during Margazhi, 13 days Azhwar Utsavam during Thai and Dhavana Utsavam during Masi are the festivals celebrated here.