Srivilliputtur the birth place of two of the twelve alwars and famous for a host of great souls who lived and cherished the greatness of this temple town bordered by the western ghats and mountain ranges to the north and south west region of this famous temple town. It has an impressive temple tower which comes to view as soon as one enters this region. This temple tower forms the official emblem of the Tamilnadu Government.
There are two temples in this town one is the Vathapatra Sayee Perumal divya desham temple, the other is the temple of Andal, the famous Vaishnavite saint. Both the temples face east. The Andal temple is locally known as Nachiyar Thirumaligai and is believed to be the residence where Perialwar resided.
The Vathapatrasayee temple which is also called Periya Perumal Temple has a huge tower measuring nearly 196 ft tall consisting of 11 tiers and 11 kalashams on top built by Sri Vallabha Devapandyan, or Nedumaran. an interesting story connected to this tower is: At the time of the Muslim invasion the army had reached the temple but found a vaishnavite devotee standing before them and trying to prevent them from plundering the temple. the army chief was impressed and threw a challenge that if the devotee climbed up the huge temple tower and jumped and was saved by his god on whom he had so much faith the army would recede without harming the people or destroying the temple. the devotee accepted the challenge and went straight away and jumped from the top most tier he was indeed just as before without any injury in spite of the jump the army chief receded without plundering the temple.
The Moolavar Vathapatra Sayee perumal is seen in bhujanga sayana pose The thayar is Andal, the theertham is Thirumukkulam, the vimanam is Samsana vimanam. God appeared to Manduka Muni and Perialwar here. This temple was under the control of the Travancore Maharaja. the unique features are the temple has three entrances. also the temple is in two floors. Agamas prescribe that if the temple is built in two tiers the bottom tier should have the Avatara bhimbams and the top tier must have the sayana bhimbams. accordingly here in the top tier on a high base is situated the moolasthanam with perumal in the sayana pose lying down on the five hooded Adhisesha, Sridevi and Bhoodevi are sitting on the two sides pressing the divine feet. god is seen in the bhoga sayana pose his right arm is hanging down. the left hand is in abhaya mudra. nearby are the idols of Valli and Kanthan the hunter chieftains, from the naval the lotus is emerging with Brahma seated on it, Perumal has the five ayudhams bow, mace, shanka, chakra and the sword.
The sun god, the moon god, Varuna are also seen Garudalwar and Senai Mudalvar are also seen near his head. a male and female form is also seen they are know as Kinnara Mithunam, they have the foot of a bird and above the waist they have a human form they also have wings. one of them is holding a veena and the other a cymbal. Markandeya Rishi and Brighu maharishi are also seen on left and right side. on the northern wall a picture of shiva is painted.
the crown clothes and jewellery have a golden colour and hence one sees the dazzling picture.
Two stories connected with the origin of this temple. one is its the Varaha kshetram. earth personified as Bhoomidevi being carried away by the demon Hiranyaksha and kept hidden in the ocean and perumal manifestes as Varaha and rescues Bhoomidevi and killed the demon. he continued to stay there to bless his devotees.
This above place in course of time got deserted and a wild forest grew here the region came under the rule of one queen named Malli who had two sons Villi and Kanthan. one day as they were hunting in the forest, Kanthan followed a tiger which ultimately attacked and killed him Villi searching for his brother got exhausted and slept under a tree. God appeared in his dream and said that his brother was killed by the tiger and he Perumal was lying hidden underneath the ant hill, he directed Villi to clear the undergrowth and with the help of the Pandya king build a temple for him there.
since he rediscovered the temple and lord the place came to be known as Villi Pudur. Sri came to be added in course of time being associated with Andal.
The Andal koil is bigger than the Vathapatrasayee perumal temple.
It has exquisitely sculpted huge pillars with figures of Venugopala, Rama, Lakshmana, Karna, Manmatha, Paramasiva, Visvakarma, Saraswathi. The figure of saraswathi when viewed if an imagenery line is drawn from the tip of the big toe to the nose of the figure we can see they are in a straight line yet the figure has four bends. thats the marvel in the sculpting another pillar has a face of an elephant from the face to the waist below which is the figure of a woman. yet another the face to waist of a woman then downwards is the figure of a lion. In the same pillar on the other side is a sculpted figure of shanks nidhi and padma nidhi of goddess Lakshmi. This figure is not found anywhere else. There are three wells in the temple one is famously called the Darpana Kinaru or Kannadi Kinaru here the water is crystal clear and this well never dries up. no fishes are found here. the other two wells are Chandana Kinaru, and Thirumadapulli kinaru.
Here we see Rangamannar, Andal and Periya Thiruvadi in Eka Simhasanam. Rangamanar in the center andal to the right and Garudar to the left. here Perumal does not have shankha and Chakra but instead has a Sceptre, which is a unique feature.
Lots of stories are connected to this important temple and what can be written can be never ending. however. ......
There are two temples in this town one is the Vathapatra Sayee Perumal divya desham temple, the other is the temple of Andal, the famous Vaishnavite saint. Both the temples face east. The Andal temple is locally known as Nachiyar Thirumaligai and is believed to be the residence where Perialwar resided.
The Vathapatrasayee temple which is also called Periya Perumal Temple has a huge tower measuring nearly 196 ft tall consisting of 11 tiers and 11 kalashams on top built by Sri Vallabha Devapandyan, or Nedumaran. an interesting story connected to this tower is: At the time of the Muslim invasion the army had reached the temple but found a vaishnavite devotee standing before them and trying to prevent them from plundering the temple. the army chief was impressed and threw a challenge that if the devotee climbed up the huge temple tower and jumped and was saved by his god on whom he had so much faith the army would recede without harming the people or destroying the temple. the devotee accepted the challenge and went straight away and jumped from the top most tier he was indeed just as before without any injury in spite of the jump the army chief receded without plundering the temple.
The Moolavar Vathapatra Sayee perumal is seen in bhujanga sayana pose The thayar is Andal, the theertham is Thirumukkulam, the vimanam is Samsana vimanam. God appeared to Manduka Muni and Perialwar here. This temple was under the control of the Travancore Maharaja. the unique features are the temple has three entrances. also the temple is in two floors. Agamas prescribe that if the temple is built in two tiers the bottom tier should have the Avatara bhimbams and the top tier must have the sayana bhimbams. accordingly here in the top tier on a high base is situated the moolasthanam with perumal in the sayana pose lying down on the five hooded Adhisesha, Sridevi and Bhoodevi are sitting on the two sides pressing the divine feet. god is seen in the bhoga sayana pose his right arm is hanging down. the left hand is in abhaya mudra. nearby are the idols of Valli and Kanthan the hunter chieftains, from the naval the lotus is emerging with Brahma seated on it, Perumal has the five ayudhams bow, mace, shanka, chakra and the sword.
The sun god, the moon god, Varuna are also seen Garudalwar and Senai Mudalvar are also seen near his head. a male and female form is also seen they are know as Kinnara Mithunam, they have the foot of a bird and above the waist they have a human form they also have wings. one of them is holding a veena and the other a cymbal. Markandeya Rishi and Brighu maharishi are also seen on left and right side. on the northern wall a picture of shiva is painted.
the crown clothes and jewellery have a golden colour and hence one sees the dazzling picture.
Two stories connected with the origin of this temple. one is its the Varaha kshetram. earth personified as Bhoomidevi being carried away by the demon Hiranyaksha and kept hidden in the ocean and perumal manifestes as Varaha and rescues Bhoomidevi and killed the demon. he continued to stay there to bless his devotees.
This above place in course of time got deserted and a wild forest grew here the region came under the rule of one queen named Malli who had two sons Villi and Kanthan. one day as they were hunting in the forest, Kanthan followed a tiger which ultimately attacked and killed him Villi searching for his brother got exhausted and slept under a tree. God appeared in his dream and said that his brother was killed by the tiger and he Perumal was lying hidden underneath the ant hill, he directed Villi to clear the undergrowth and with the help of the Pandya king build a temple for him there.
since he rediscovered the temple and lord the place came to be known as Villi Pudur. Sri came to be added in course of time being associated with Andal.
The Andal koil is bigger than the Vathapatrasayee perumal temple.
It has exquisitely sculpted huge pillars with figures of Venugopala, Rama, Lakshmana, Karna, Manmatha, Paramasiva, Visvakarma, Saraswathi. The figure of saraswathi when viewed if an imagenery line is drawn from the tip of the big toe to the nose of the figure we can see they are in a straight line yet the figure has four bends. thats the marvel in the sculpting another pillar has a face of an elephant from the face to the waist below which is the figure of a woman. yet another the face to waist of a woman then downwards is the figure of a lion. In the same pillar on the other side is a sculpted figure of shanks nidhi and padma nidhi of goddess Lakshmi. This figure is not found anywhere else. There are three wells in the temple one is famously called the Darpana Kinaru or Kannadi Kinaru here the water is crystal clear and this well never dries up. no fishes are found here. the other two wells are Chandana Kinaru, and Thirumadapulli kinaru.
Here we see Rangamannar, Andal and Periya Thiruvadi in Eka Simhasanam. Rangamanar in the center andal to the right and Garudar to the left. here Perumal does not have shankha and Chakra but instead has a Sceptre, which is a unique feature.
Lots of stories are connected to this important temple and what can be written can be never ending. however. ......
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