Divya Desam – Lord Vishnu | One of the DivyaDesamVishnuSthalam |
Region | Chola Naadu |
Chola Naadu | 21st Vishnu Sthalam |
HISTORY:
Lord
Jagannatha is blessing the devotees from the sanctum facing west. The vimana
above presiding Lord is called Mandhara Vimana. Nandhi and emperor Shibi had
the darshan of Lord in the temple. Jagannatha Perumal Temple at Nandhipura
Vinnagaram is one of the 108 Divya Desams. This temple is more commonly known
as Nathan Koil. As this temple resembles the Puri Jagannatha temple, it is also
known as “Dakshina Jagannatham”. This place was once a forest of Shenbagam
flowers and hence is known as Shenbagaranyam, meaning forest of Shenbagam. The
moolavar or main deity of this temple is Srinivasan or Nathanathan.The utsavar
(the deity taken out in processions) is known as Vinnagara Perumal or
Jagannatha Perumal. His consort is Shenbagavalli Thayar. The Lord is present in
a sitting posture, with sword, bow, chakram (discus), sangu (conch) and Dandam
(stick) in his hand, under the Mandara Vimanam facing west. The holy water is
Nandhi Theertham. This village was established by Chola King Nandhivarman. He
also built this temple here.
Nandi
– Lord Shiva’s vehicle – is associated with the legend connected to this
temple. Nandi once wanted to have the darshan of Lord Vishnu and proceeded to
Vaikuntam. At the entrance, he was stopped by the dwarapalakas (sentries) of
Vishnu. An arrogant Nandhi tried to force his way in, because of which the
dwarapalakas cursed him. As advised by Lord Shiva, Nandi went to Shenbagaranyam
near Kudamuku (Kumbakonam) and performed penance to Lord Vishnu. The Lord
appeared before him and absolved him of the sin. This is the reason for the
place being called Nandhipura Vinnagaram. A niche of Nandi is seen on the outer
wall of this temple.
The
Lord here was originally facing east. Sibi Chakravarthy’s story is attributed
to the reason for the Lord facing west. Sibi Chakravarthy was a righteous King
who was known for his truthful and just ways. Once, Dharmaraja decided to test
him. A pigeon that was being chased by an Eagle came to the King seeking
asylum. The King promised to protect the pigeon. The Eagle that soon came there
wanted the pigeon to satisfy his hunger. The King was faced with a dilemma
because he had to save the life of the pigeon that had sought protection. At
the same time, he could not deny the eagle of its right and let it stave. He
offered his own flesh equivalent to the weight of the pigeon in lieu of the
pigeon’s life. The eagle agreed. Any amount of flesh from his body would not
suffice to equal the weight of the pigeon. The King finally offered his whole
body to the eagle. Dharmaraja who was in the form of the eagle and Indran who
was in the form of the pigeon were pleased with the King’s commitment to
protect the weak. The Lord at Nathan Koil is supposed to have turned towards
West to witness this event.
There
is also yet another reason attributed to the Lord facing west. There was a
misunderstanding between Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi because of which they were
separated. Lakshmi wanted to win back a place in the Lord’s heart and was
performing penance at Shenbaranyam facing east. Pleased with Her devotion the
Lord gave her darshan. Since He was already facing East, He had to turn towards
west for gicing Her the darshan. This happened on Ashtami (8th day from
New moon or full moon) of Shuklapaksham (waxing period of the moon, period from
new moon to full moon), which was a friday in the tamil month of Aipasi. Since
the Lord and His consort were reunited at this place, praying at this temple
can ease tensions in marital life. Praying here will reunite one with his/her
separated spouse.
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri Jagannathan, Sri Vinnagara Perumal, Sri Nadhanathan |
|
Ambal |
Sri Shenbagavalli |
|
Theertham |
Nandhi Pushkarini Theertham |
BELIEF:
Sri
Sooktha Homam is performed here on the shuklapaksha ashtami days. Performing
this homam on eight consecutive shuklapaksha ashtamis will result in the
devotee being blessed with prosperity, fulfillment of desires and overall
happiness.
Nathan
Koil is one of the Vaishnava Navagraha sthalams around Kumbakonam. It is
associated with Chandran. Chandra dosha parihara pujas are performed at this
temple on Mondays.
Pavitrotsavam
is a festival organised in the temple by Karimaran Kalai Kappagam of
Triplicane, Chennai, every July. The festive images of the deity are taken out
in procession and special poojas are
performed during the occasion. Askhaya Tritya is another
major festival celebrated in the temple when the festival deity is taken in
procession in a Garuda mount around the temple.
HOW
TO REACH:
Nandhipura
Vinnagaram is about 9 kms from Kumbakonam. It is in the Keezha Pazhayarai area,
which was the ancient capital of the Cholas. Patteswaram famous
for it Durga temple is just about 3 Kms from here. This is a remote village.
The buses to this place are not very frequent. Take a bus from Kumbakonam that
goes towards Udalayur. Alight at Keezha Pazhayarai and the temple is about a
kilometre from there.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Jagannatha Perumal
Koil,
Nathankoil,
Pambai Padayur,
Tanjore,
Tamil Nadu- 612703.
LOCATION:
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