Skip to main content

Sri Pundarikaashan Perumal Temple, Thiruvellarai

 SRI  PUNDARIKAKSHAN PERUMAL Temple, Thiruvellarai, a village in the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Very big 'Mathil" and vast artistic stone laid structures is really amazing in this temple. 

 The Thiruvellarai Sri Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple is regarded to be the oldest of the Vaishnavaite sites located in all of South India. As a matter of fact, Thiruvellarai temple is much older than the far-famed Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, which was constructed during Sri Rama’s time period, whereas the Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple was constructed by Sibhi Chakravarthy, a forefather of Sri Rama and thus, the name 'Aadhi Vellarai'. Another, unique rather surprising thing to notice in this temple is its half finished raja gopuram!

First and foremost, Thiruvellarai Sri Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple is one among the most revered 108 Divyadesams.  Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Thiruvellarai Sri Pundarikaksha Perumal Temple is lauded in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, a sacred collection of 4,000 Tamil verses written by the 12 azhwars, viz, Poigai Alvar, Bhoothathalvar, Peyalvar, Thirumalisai Alvar, Nammalvar, Madhurakavi Alvar, King Kulasekhara Alvar, Periyalvar, Andal, Thondaradippodi Alvar, Thiruppaan Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar.

The Tamil word 'Vellarai' is actually 'Vellai Parai' which means 'white rock'. As the sacred site is located approximately 100 feet on a small artificial hillock made of granite slabs, the temple is called as 'Thiruvellarai'. In the Deva Baasha of Sanskrit, Thiruvellarai is called as 'Swetagiri' which also references the hillock of white rock. Thiruvellarai is also called by many other names and some of them are Hita Kshethram, Adhivellarai and Uthama Kshethram.

To seek the blessings of Sri Pundarikaksha Perumal (Lord Vishnu), devotees will have to climb 18 stairs which surprisingly has a relation to the represents the illustrious Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita. The 18 stairs at the Thiruvellarai temple represents the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita.

Further, the devotees will have to climb another 4 stairs at the entrance of gopuram which represent Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Proceeding further, devotees will be reaching the Bali Peetam of this temple. After the Bali Peetam, devotees will have to climb another 5 stairs which represent Pancha Bhootas according to Hinduism, that is to say, Fire, Earth, Water, Sky and Air.

The Garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) of the Thiruvellarai Sri Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple features two entryways, that is to say, Utharayana Gate and Dakshinayana Gate. The two entryway system is well explained that every human being use two separate gates in life, one for entering and another in passing, out of life. This is directly related to the two gate concept followed in the sanctum sanctorum of Thiruvellarai temple.

·         Utharayana Gate - the entryway through which all the Jeevathmas come into existence as a human and is the base of 'Kubera', the Lord of Wealth. During Utharayanam, the god is 'Suriya Narayanan'

·         Dhakshinayana Gate - the entryway to the end and it is the base of Yama, the god of death.  During Dakshinayanam, the god is 'Govindan’

Apart from the Utharayana Gate and Dhakshinayana Gate, the Thiruvellarai Sri Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple also has a third entrance to the sanctum sanctorum. The third entrance is called as ‘Naazhi Kettaan Vaayil’. It is supposed that Sri Pundarikakshan was stopped and queried by the goddess, after returning from his visit.

Primary Deity/Moolavar: Sri Pundarikaksha Perumal (majestic standing posture, facing east)

Goddess/Amman/Thayar: Shenbagavalli aka Periya Piraattiyaar Lakshmi Devi
Festival Goddess/Utsava Thayar: Pangajavalli
Temple Tree/Thala Virutcham: Vilwa Maram
Temple Tanks/Theerthams: Pushkala, Kusa, Chakra, Manikarnika, Varaha Gandha and Padma theerthams
Other Deities and Shrines: Bhoomi Piratti, Sri Krishna, Suriya, Kulasekara Azhwar, Chandiran, Aadisheshan, Chakarathazhwar, Manavala Mamunigal, Thondarippodi Azhwar and so on
















Location & transport: Frequent buses from Chatram bus stand in Trichy. Thiruvellarai temple is 17 0 km away from the Chatram bus stand and the temple can be reached via Trichy -  Chennai Trunk Rd. from Mannachanallur, the Thiruvellarai temple is just 7.5 km.

 Temple Timings: 7:00 AM to 1:15 PM and 3:30 AM to 8:00 PM

Worth visiting this temple for SRI  PUNDARIKAKSHAN PERUMAL Blessings

Posted on 21/01/2022

S. RAMASAMY (Sriram)

PH : 98410 48152          E.Mail : sharuinsurance@gmail.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Thirumanangeeswarar - (Sri Thiruvudai Amman) Temple, Melur, Minjur, Chennai

Sri Thirumanangeeswarar - ( Sri Thiruvudai Amman) Temple, Melur, Minjur, Chennai   The Thirumanangeeswarar - Thiruvudai Amman Temple is dedicated to Lord   Shiva as  Thirumanangeeswarar   and Ambal as  Thiruvudai Amman . The famous Thiruvudai Amman Temple at Melur. This temple is one of the Tri-Shakti temples in and around Chennai. Devi Thiruvudai Amman represents Iccha Shakti (Power of Will). The other two temples are   Vadivudai Amman Temple   representing Gnana Shakti and   Kodiyidai Amman Temple   representing Kriya Shakti . The form of the Devi in all three temples is identical.               This place was once a forest with filled with trees & shrubs with sweet smelling flowers and was known as Suganda Vanam (Suganda-indicating sweet smelling, vanam-forest). The people from neighbouring villages found a grazing cow showering its milk into a shrub. They found a Lingam (Svayambu – self forme...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shri Vaaleeswarar Temple, Valikandapuram

        Shri Valeeswarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Valikandapuram near Perambalur Town in Perambalur District of Tamil Nadu.        Presiding Deity is called as Vaaleeswarar / Brahmapureeswarar and Ambal is called as Valambigai / Bhrihannayaki . The Temple is situated on eastern banks of Koneri River. Arunagirinathar (15th century CE) has sung the praise of Lord Muruga of this Temple in his Thirupugazh Hymns. (Arunagirinathar (15th century CE) has sung the praise of Lord Muruga of this Temple in his Thirupugazh Hymns).                Valikandapuram is an important city in the Chola Kingdom. The temple was built by the Cholas before the construction of Tanjore Brihadeeswarar Temple popular known as Thanjai Periya Kovil. The Temple has about 130 stone inscriptions including ones from the Chola period relating to Aditya Chola I, Parantaka Chola and Rajaraja Chola. Krishnadevaraya has ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sri Margabandeeswarar Temple, Virinjipuram

Sri Margabandeeswarar Temple, Virinjipuram, is located in Virinjipuram Village near Vellore.. Situated on the southern bank of Palar River, the temple owes the beautiful artistic stonework on its walls and its palatial Dravidian architecture to the rulers of Chola Dynasty.             The main deity of this temple is Swayambu Lingam known as Margabandeeswarar . The Siva Lingam is slightly leaning to North East direction. The Goddess of the temple is Maragadambal . Other deities seen in the temple are Ganapathy, Subramanya, Chandra Mouleeswara, Pancha Mukha Lingam, Saptha Matrukas, Lakshmi, Saraswathy & Durga. In this temple Lord Brahma is worshiped as Virinjan. He worshipped Lord Shiva at this place and hence it got the name Virinjipuram.             The  sthala vruksham  of the Virinjipuram Temple is the Palm tree which is planted in the  prakaram ...
Post a Comment
Read more