DivyaDesam– Lord Vishnu | One of the DivyaDesamVishnuSthalam |
Region | Pandiya Naadu |
Pandiya Naadu | 11thVishnuSthalam |
HISTORY:
Located
70 Kms South West of Madurai is Srivilliputhur, the birthplace of Andal and
considered to be among the holiest of the 108 Divya Desams. This is the
birthplace of not one but two Azhvaars and a father-daughter one at that-
PeriAzhvaar and Andal. Legend has it that this town was built by two hunters Villi
and Puttan and hence the name Villiputhur. The temple dates back to 1st Century
AD. The 196 ft high temple tower is 2nd only to Srirangam’s Rajagopuram (236
ft) among the Divya Desams. The 9 tier temple chariot is said to be the biggest
in Tamil Nadu. It is the Srivilliputhur temple tower that is enshrined as the
Tamil Nadu Government logo.
The
majestic and magnificent Rajagopuram never gets missed from the eyes of the
travelers from a long distance even before reaching the town. The 192 feet high
gopuram has found an enviable place suitably representing the ancient
architecture, culture and beauty of the Tamilians in the emblem of Government
of Tamilnadu. Vatapatra Sayee is further known in other names like Pallikonda
paramaswamy, Vata perun koil udayan and Periya Perumal. The temple is situated
just adjacent to Andal temple. Connecting them in between is the garden - the
birth place of The Tamil poetess Andal and her guardian parent Periyalwar.
The
sanctum sanctorum is two tiered. You have to climb steps to have a darshan of
Lord Vatapatra sayee who is resting in a recumbent posture under "Vimal
krithi vimanam"; All the celestials like Narada Rishi, Markandeya Rishi,
Garuda, Surya, Sanathkumaras and the consorts of Lord Sridevi and Boodevi are
present along with the resting Moolavar. Another very important and unique
aspect of temple is that Moolavar is made of “sudhai” and not stone as in other
temples. When we come down, we have the darshan of Lord Lakshminarasimha in the
lower tier of sanctum sanctorum. In front is “Gopala Vilasam” a beautiful
Mandapam where “Pagal Pathu Adhyayana utsavam” during Margazhi month and ‘Unjal
thavam” in Aippasi month are celebrated. Vaikunta Ekadasi is another festival
in Margazhi month. On that day only ‘vaikunda Vasal’ is openned. Devotees
throng in thousands forming long queues to have the darshan of Lord
Rangamannar- Vatapatrasayee through Vaikuntavasal on Vaikunta Ekadasi.
Bhagavan
Sriman Narayanan, during his Varaha Avataram, slayed an asuran called Kalinemi
and took rest under the foot of a banyan tree, with his consorts Sri
Mahalakshmi and Sri Bhooma Devi in a place called Shenbagaranyam (meaning
beautiful forest, in Tamil, in sanskrit -CHAMPAKA ARANYAM). Shenbagaranyam was
a small part of large kingdom ruled by a queen Malli. Her sons Villi and Puttan
were hunters and used to hunt animals in Shenbagaranyam. One day these two
hunters went to the forest for hunting and spotted a tiger. They tried to kill
it with Puttan vigorously chasing it. Villi lost track of his brother. After
some time, the tiger managed to kill Puttan by hiding behind a tree and
pouncing on him at an opportune time. Villi came searching for Puttan and, on
seeing his dead body, was overcome with grief. After some time he fell asleep.
During
his sleep he had a dream. Sriman Narayanan and his consort appeared in his
dream and said "O, Villi do not grieve. We will get back your brother's
life." He mentioned his previous appearance as Vatapatrasayi in Sayana
Thirukolam under the foot of the banyan tree and said that there was a cave
near a huge banyan tree where his moorthy (statue) had been lying for a long
time. There were also lots of gold coins and jewels near the cave. He
instructed Villi to use the money to deforest the place and build a village with
a temple after installing the statue in the temple.
Villi
woke up to find his brother Puttan alive and narrated his dream him. He then
built a small town and a temple by installing the statue of the Lord and thus
the Vatapatrasayi temple was built. After a forest full of snake mounds was
converted into a town by Villi it came to be known as Villiputhoor. Later with
the advent of Sri Andal it got the name Srivilliputtur (the prefix
"Sri" being a sobriquet for a holy place).
PeriAzhvaar
then returned to Srivilliputhur and continued his devotion for Lord Vishnu. One
day, while he was performing his daily collection of flowers for the Lord, he
found a small girl lying in the garden. PeriAzhvaar named her as Aandal and
brought her up as his own daughter.
Into
her teens, Aandal developed the habit of wearing the garland that PeriAzhvaar
had put together for the Lord. With garland around her neck, she began admiring
admire her own beauty in the mirror. From a very young age, she began to sing
praise of Lord Krishna and began to see the Lord as her husband.
This act shocked PeriAzhvaar and he looked up to the Lord for solution. To
PeriAzhvaar’s relief, the Lord indicated that he was happy to adorn the
garland.
To
this day, this unique tradition is followed in this temple, not seen in any
other Divya Desam. Lord Vadapatrasaayee adorns every morning the garland worn
the previous evening by Aandal (the Goddess).
As
years passed by, PeriAzhvaar was anxious and worried about the future of
Aandal. Answering his prayers, Lord Ranganatha asked PeriAzhvaar to bring
Aandal to Srirangam.
PeriAzhvaar
left for Srirangam in a Palanquin provided by Pandya King Vallabha Devan. On
reaching the Cauvery, Aandal suddenly disappeared. PeriAzhvaar continued his
trip across the Cauvery. On reaching the temple, he found Aandal alongside Lord
Ranganatha.
PeriAzhvaar
wanted to see this sight in his own place at Srivilliputhur and Lord Ranganatha
is said to have made the trip on his Garuda Vahanam and appeared in a wedding
posture as Rangamannar.
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri Vadabhatra Saayi Perumal |
|
Ambal |
Sri Andal |
|
Theertham |
Thirumukkulam Pushkarani Theertham |
Praying lord here
grants all the wishes of devotees.
Thousands
of people from the state participate in the "Aadi Pooram" festival
celebrated in the Andal Temple. After early morning special pujas, the
presiding deities, Sri Rengamannar and Goddess Andal are taken in decorated
palanquins to the car. The festival marks the adoption of presiding deity,
Andal, by Periyazhwar after he found her near a Tulsi plant in the garden of
Vatapatrasayi Temple at Srivilliputhur on the eighth day of the Tamil month
of Adi. The temple car was originally very heavy (40m tall and
650 tonnes) and it took days to take it back to the original position. Before
2000, the practise of drawing the temple car during the yearly festival was
suspended. With the efforts of Vanamamalai Jeer, the head of a monastic
institution, the temple car was modified with hydraulic wheels to ease the movement. Kumbabishekam,
the consecration of the Andal temple happened on 20 January 2016. Golden
filials were also installed for Andal temple. A good time to visit temple are
Fridays & Saturdays.
HOW
TO REACH:
Srivilliputhur
is about 75 Kms from Madurai on NH 208. Madurai is well connected with air,
rail and road. Many buses ply from all parts of Tamil Nadu to the town of
Srivilliputhur.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Vadabhatra Saayi
Perumal Thirukkovil,
Srivilliputtur,
Tamil Nadu.
LOCATION:
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