Divya Desam – Lord Vishnu | One of the DivyaDesamVishnuSthalam |
Region | Chola Naadu |
Chola Naadu | 23rd Vishnu Sthalam |
HISTORY:
Sri
Devaadi Raja Perumal, or Thiruvazhunthoor, is a Hindu temple situated in
Thiruvazhunthoor, Therazhundur, a village in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu. It
lies in between Mayavaram junction and Kuttalam railway station on the main
railway line between Chennai (Madras) and Tanjore. It is one of the "Divya
Desams", the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 poet saints, or
Alwars.
Once
Brahma took away the herd of cows which were grazing around in Gokulam while
Krishna was having bath on the banks of Yamuna, and brought them to Thiru
Vazhandur. Krishna came back and through his powers found out what had
happened. Instantly, he created the same number of cows at Gokulam.
Realising his folly, Brahma approached Krishna and requested him to give
darshan at Thiru Vazhandur. Accepting his request, Krishna appears as
Aamaruviyappan (Gosakan in Sanskrit) in his ‘divine form’ along with a cow by
the side of his back and a calf in front of him, a beautiful sight that one is
not witness to in any of the other Krishnaranya Divya Desam Kshetram. This is a
speciality of this Krishnaranya Kshetram.
The
other Krishnaranya Kshetrams are Thiru Kannangudi, Kapisthalam,
Thiru Kannapuram and Thiru
Kannamangai.
King
Uparisiravasu was travelling in the sky on his chariot. He had a boon that
anything on which the shade of his chariot falls, would be burnt. On one such
occasion, the divine cows suffered the burns as the shade of the chariot fell
on them. Lord Vishnu, noticing this, wanted to teach a lesson to the king. He
placed His feet on the shade of his chariot. His chariot was brought to earth
and was caught in the sand. His pride also came to an end. As the chariot
(Ther) was caught under the earth, the place came to be known as Therezhundur
(Ther= Chariot).
Indra
once presented Garuda a gold ornament and a vimanam. It is said that Garuda
gave the Vimanam at this temple at Thiru Vazhandur (the Gold ornament was given
to Thiru Narayanan at Melkote near Mysore). Happy at this gesture of Garuda,
the Lord accorded him a special status at this temple with a position alongside
him at the sanctum sanctorum, a unique feature at a Divya Desam. Normally one
finds Garuda opposite the Lord but here he is seen next to the Lord Himself.
Prahalad
who had seen an aggressive and angry Lord Vishnu killing Hiranyakashipu in his
Narasimha Avataar undertook penance here wanting to see a softer, quieter
version of the Lord. Legend has it that the Lord gave darshan to Prahalad here
in his not so ‘angry form’. One finds Prahalad alongside DevathiRajan, another
unique feature.
Sage
Agasthya wanted to wed Cauvery. When she refused, the sage locked her here.
Cauvery escaped from this place only to be cursed by the Sage who said "
Let the place where Cauvery goes be in trouble'. Cauvery undertook penance here
at TherEzhendur to get liberated from the curse of Sage Agasthiya.
This is the birth place of the famous Tamil poet Kamban (Kamban wrote the Kamba
Ramayana in Tamil). There is a separate sannidhi for Kamban at this temple. The
place where Kamban resided, on the Sannidhi street, has now been turned into a
beautiful new ‘Kamban Mandapam’.
It
is believed that this was the place where Sage Markandeya performed penance
here to get Moksham.
Lord
Perumal and Lord Shiva were playing dais one day. Mother Parvathi was the
judge. While rolling the dais confusion arose. Mother Parvathi favoured
Perumal. Angry Shiva cursed Her to become a cow. Mothers Mahalakshmi and
Saraswathi also joined Her as cows. Perumal became the shepherd. Aa in Tamil
means cow. Hence Lord is also praised as Aamaruviappan ruling this region.
TEMPLE INFORMATION:
|
Moolavar |
Sri Devadhirajan, Sri Aamaruviappan |
|
Ambal |
Sri Sengamalavalli |
|
Theertham |
Darshana Pushkarini Theertham |
BELIEF:
People pray for removal
of obstacles in marriage proposals, Child boon, and excellence in academic
pursuits.
Various
festivals are celebrated in the temple, with the Vaikasi Brahmotsavam during
the Tamil of Vaikasi (during May - June),
Thiruvonam and Vaikuntha Ekadashi during Margazhi (December
- January) being the most prominent. During Brahmotsavam festival, the
festival deities of Devaadi Raja Perumal and Sengamalavalli is taken in
procession around the steerts of the temple.
HOW
TO REACH:
Bus :
From Mayavaram, take bus going to Kumbakonam, get down at Komal Road stop( 9
kms from Mayavaram). Take another bus to Ther Ezhendur ( 2kms from there)Bus
Nos. 10A, 10B, 10C ply directly from Mayavaram to Ther Ezhendur. There is also
a direct bus (No. 33) from Kumbakonam.
Auto : Auto will charge about Rs. 30 from Komal Road bus stop
Nearest Rail Head : Kutralam Railway Station on the Kumbakonam-Mayavaram
route is about 4 kms from here.
(There was a railway station for Ther Ezhendur before but does not exist now).
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri Ther Ezhendur
Devathi Rajan Perumal Temple,
Sannidhi Street,
Ther Ezhendur,
Tamil Nadu - 609 808.
LOCATION:
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