Sundaravarada Perumal temple

Coordinates: 12°36′53″N 79°45′18″E / 12.61472°N 79.75500°E / 12.61472; 79.75500
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Sundaravarada Perumal Temple
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DistrictKanchipuram
DeitySundaravarada Perumal (Vishnu) Anandavalli (Lakshmi)
Location
LocationUthiramerur
StateTamil Nadu
CountryIndia
Sundaravarada Perumal temple is located in Tamil Nadu
Sundaravarada Perumal temple
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates12°36′53″N 79°45′18″E / 12.61472°N 79.75500°E / 12.61472; 79.75500
Architecture
TypeDravidian architecture

The Sundaravarada Perumal Temple in

Sambuvarayas
, Vijayanagara Rayas and the Nayaks.

A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the gateway tower. The temple tank is located adjacent to the temple, outside the main entrance. Unlike other temples, the temple has three sanctums in a two tiered structure and three shrines in three cardinal directions in the lower level.

Sundaravarada Perumal is believed to have appeared for

Vadakalai tradition of worship. Six daily rituals and many yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of Chittirai (April - May), Pavitrotsava during Adi (July - August) and Sri Jayanti in Avani (August - September) being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu
.

Legend

Varaha Perumal
Vaikunta Perumal

As per Hindu legend, Sundara Varada Perumal temple is closely associated with Mahabharata, an epic. Bhima, the Pandava prince in Mahabharata worshipped Vishnu at this place. There are three Varadas around the main sanctum in the ground floor namely Achyuta Varada, Anirudhha Varada and Kalyana Varada, who are believed to have given relief to Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, the other three Pandava princes. The consort presiding deity, Anandavalli is believed to have appeared for Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas. The images of the three Varadas are located around the sanctum in cardinal directions. A flight of steps lead to each of them. The temple was originally called Vellai Vishnugraham (place for the fair deity) and the presiding deity was called Vellaimurthi Embiran, Vellaimurthy Alvar, Rajendra Chola Vinnagar Alvar and Sokka Perumal.[1]

History

Uthiramerur was ruled by the

Srivaishanva community. There is a mention about four Pallava kings up to 900 CE. There are a total of 25 inscriptions from the Pallava period. The temple was built by Nandivarman II modeled from the Vaikuntantha Perumal temple in Kanchipuram. From the inscriptions, it is also learnt that the temple was built according to Agamic principles by the architect Takshaka of Pataka and with expert consultation with the Agamic tradition in the village.[1]

Image of the temple tank

The

Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120) indicating various gifts to the temples. The process of democratically electing the local representatives through a system called Kudavolai during the Chola regime is documented in the inscriptions.[3][4]

The region and the village went under the sway of

British and the French during the 18th century.[3] The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Based on the inscriptions, the temple has been addressed by many names, like Vellai Vishnugraham, Vellai Murthi Emperan, Vellaimurthi Alvar, Rajendra Chola Vinnagar Alvar and Sokka Perumal.[1]

Architecture

The stucco images in the vimana

Sundaravarada Perumal temple covers an area of about 2 acres (0.81 hectares) and has a five-tiered gopuram (gateway tower). The temple in enclosed in a rectangular enclosure with huge granite walls. Unlike other South Indian temples where there in only one sanctum housing the presiding deity, Sundaravarada temple has a two storied sanctum and three shrines in cardinal directions around the sanctum.[1]

The sanctum at the lower level houses the image of Chaturbhujanga Vishnu sported with four arms. Two of his hands hold the

Vimana, which has sculptural depiction of the nine different forms of Vishnu.[1][5]

The shrine of the consort of Sundaravarada Perumal, Anandavalli, is located to the south of the main shrine in the lower level. There are smaller shrines of Lakshmi Narasimha, Rama, Andal, Narasimha and Vedanta Desika are found in separate shrines around the first precinct. The temple tank, called Vairamegha tataka, located to the west of the temple, is mentioned in a lot of inscriptions.[1]

The Sundaravarada Perumal temple is said to have been constructed by the mason Paramesa Vathan, who was extremely skilled in

Rama
, and many other sculptures resembling vikhanasa sutra. Another special thing about this temple is that there will be 9 Mula Virats (main deities) under the same vimanam. Four Perumal vigrahas facing in four different directions around mula virat along with four more Perumal statues one stair up.

Religious practices and festival

The entrance and shrines of the temple

The temple follows the traditions of the

Vadakalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and follows Vaikasana aagama. In modern times, the temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. Four daily rituals are held at various times of the day and many yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of Chittirai (April - May), Pavitrotsava during Adi (July - August) and Sri Jayanti in Avani (August - September) being the most prominent. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.[1]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-81-908445-0-5
    .
  2. ^ "Constitution 1,000 years ago". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 11 July 2008. Archived from the original on 14 July 2008.
  3. ^ a b R., Nagaswamy (2003). Uttaramerur. Chennai: Tamil Arts Academy. pp. 12–16.
  4. ISBN 8170173981
    .
  5. ISBN 978-81-88661-42-8
    .

External links

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