Markandeya Purana details
the history of the temple. A sage named Salihotra had his hermitage in this
place. He used to grind rice for a living and offered half of the flour to the
seekers and used to consume the rest himself. He was an ardent devotee of
Vishnu. To test his devotion, Vishnu appeared as a guest to him one day. He
requested Salihotra to offer him food, which the sage did. The guest felt
hungry and requested the sage to offer more food. The sage offered the other
half portion of the flour which he used to consume himself. The guest asked a
place to rest and the sage readily offered his hermitage. On arriving at the
hermitage, the guest revealed his true form and blessed the sage.[2]
As
per another legend, Vishnu appeared in the place to marry Lakshmi,
who was born as the daughter of Dilipa, the king of Dharmasenapura. He appeared
in the place and married her.[3] The
place is also called Thiruevvul and Veshranniem.[4]
As
per yet another legend, Shiva was not invited
by Daksha,
the father of Dakshyani and wife of Siva for a big yagna (sacrifice).
Siva, in his anger, opened his third eye out of which Virabhadra was created.
He was directed by Siva to kill Daksha and he followed his orders. Siva
incurred Brahmahatti Dosham on account of the execution. He
was directed to the sacred tank of the temple to propitiate himself off the
sins. The shrine of Siva in the form of Theertheswarar on the northern banks of
the temple is believed to be place where Siva cleansed himself.[5]
The temple is originally believed to have been built by
the Pallavas during
the 8th century. There are inscriptions dating back to the later half of the
9th century Pallava dynasty reign here. Local folklore
claims that the temple is around 5000 years old. According to historian K.V.
Soundararajan, the Rangantha temples in South India built during the 9th and
10th centuries have a systematic arrangement of subsidiary deities as seen in
this temple along with the Appakkudathaan Perumal Temple at
Koviladi, Sowmya Narayana Perumal temple at
Thirukoshtiyur, Rajagopalaswamy temple at Mannargudi and Rangantha temple at Srirangapatna.[6] There
are inscriptions in the temple from the period of Kulothunga Chola I (107-1120 AD)
indicating gift of 1000 kulis of land by Tiruvenkatadeva to
the temple. The inscriptions from the eastern wall of the Vahanamandap
indicates gift of 130 pons of gold by Veera Raghava Sadagoppa Jiyar, the
thirteenth seer of Ahobila Mutt to the temple during 1630-75. There are
inscriptions indicating gift of lands to the temple during the reign of
Ramadeva Maharaya (1620–30), Narasimha Deva, Vira Venkatapathi Rayadeva
Maharayar and Sri Venkatarayadeva Mahakavi, Kulothunga Deva and Rajendra I.
There are also inscriptions referring to the gift of lands for conducting
various festivals by other kings in the region like Maduranthaka Deva, Sadasiva
Maharaya (1542–1570), Rama Deva Raya (1617–1632)
and Venkata III (1632-42).[7]
Most
scholars believe that the major structures of the temple were built during
1409. There is an inscription on the Eastern wall in 1542 AD indicating grants
to the temple by a private party.[8]
The temple is under administration of Ahobila Mutt.
It has five tiered Rajagopuram (main gate). There are separate shrines for
Kanakavalli, Ganesha, Alwars, Gajalakshmi Thayaar. Here, the Lord married
Vasumathi the daughter of a king Dharmasena. There are also shrines to Ganesha,
Gopalan, Nammazhwar, Chakrattazhwar, Andal, Vedanta Desika, Ramanujacharyar,
and Lakshmi Narasimhar.
The
presiding deity Veeraraghava swamy is in a recumbent position (called Bhujanga
sayanm) facing east. His right hand blesses the sage Salihotra and left
hand in gnana mudra preaches
to Brahma.
The Vimanam (pyramidal roof over the sanctum)
is called Vijayakoti Vimanam as it is a symbol of victory against Madhukaidapas
asuras who were killed by Vishnu. The Thayar is called Kanakavalli (also known
by the name Vasumati) and her shrine is located parallel to the sanctum. There
are shrines of Azhwars, Ranganatha and Hanuman located
around the sanctum in the first precinct. The sacred tank is called
Hrutatapanasini.
The
presiding deity Veeraraghava Perumal is believed to cure diseases of his
devotees and hence he is called "Vaithiya Veeraraghavan". There is
another legend that Lord Shiva got rid of his Brahmahathi Dosha after worshipping
Vishnu in the place. There is a small shrine for Shiva in this temple
premises.[9] The
temple tank, Hritayathabhanasini, is located to the West of the temple and is
believed to have medicinal effects.[7] There
is an ornate four pillared black stone hall called Vellikizhamai
mandapam where the festival image of the presiding deities are
displayed every Friday.[5]
Vishnu as Veera Raghavar is the presiding deity of the Veera
Raghavar temple. He is also called Vaidya Veera Raghavar, in view of his
ailment curing abilities. In this temple people submit small metal sheets with
a specific human organ engraved on them as a request to god to cure the illness
or problems with those organs. It is believed that those suffering from
incurable diseases are cured if they worship the presiding deity. Devotees come
here for marriage, progeny, and for relief from hardships. The water in the
tank is considered more sacred than that of river Ganga. A dip in the tank is
believed to relieve the devotee from sins he committed in thought as well as
action. Abishekam, the sacred ablution to the presiding deity is done only with
sandalwood oil. The temple is considered the Vaishnavite temple equivalent of
healing abilities of the presiding deity to that of the Vaitheeswaran, the
presiding deity of the Saivite Vaitheeswaran Kovil.[10] Thousands
of devotees take a holy dip during new moon days and also pour molasses into
the temple tank.[11]
The
temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th
century Vaishnava canon, by Thirumangai
alvar and Thirumalisai Alvar.[3] The
Azhwar has sung praise, imagining himself as a lady and Veeraraghava as his
lover. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam,
one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book.[12] Many Acharyas have
also written songs on the various forms of Bhaktavatsala in this Temple.[3] Ramalinga Swamigal is believed to have
been cured off his stomach pain after worshiping in the temple. He glorified
the presiding temple in his works in Potri Panchangam.[5]
New Moon Day is auspicious for this Kshetram. During Fridays
Thayaar will be taken to a separate mandapam for puja. Two annual festival are
celebrated. Chitra Festival is also important here. Puliyodharai (Tamarind
Rice), Dhadhyannam (Curd Rice), Pongal, Chakkarai Pongal, Vada, Adhirasam,
Murukku are offered to Lord as Prasadam.
The
temple follows the traditions of the Vadakalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition
and follows paancharatram aagama. 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. The temple
rituals are performed four times a day: Kalasanthi at
8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at
6:00 p.m., and Ardha Jamam at 8:30 p.m. Each ritual
has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food
offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both
Bhaktavatsala Perumal and Kannamangai Thayar. During the last step of
worship, nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion
instrument) are played, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred
text) and Nalayira Divya Prabandam are recited by priests, and
worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are
weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.[12]
During
the Tamil month of Chittirai,
Brahmotsavam, a 10-day festival is celebrated, the festival deity is taken in
procession around the streets of the temple in different mounts each day and
the float festival is celebrated on the last day. The other festivals
associated with Vishnu temples like Krishna Jayanthi, Saturdays of Tamil month
Puratassi, Navratri, Vaikunta Ekadasi and Vijayadasami are
celebrated during the respective days.[3]
The Lord’s abhishekam is performed only with sandalwood oil. Hrittapanasini spring is considered more sacred than the holy Ganga and it is believed that it cleanses devotees even from the very thinking of a sin.
Salt and pepper offered to the god is believed to cure diseases and restore good health to the devotee. Small metal form of parts of body and other symbols are available in the nearby shops and these are put in the hundial by devotees for curing particular disease. This sthala is also believed to bless people with putra Santana. The lord is popularly known as Vaidhya Veeraraghava Perumal.
Puliyodharai (Tamarind Rice), Dhadhyannam (Curd Rice), Pongal, Chakkarai Pongal, Vada, Adhirasam, Murukku are offered to Lord as Prasadam.
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