Devaadi Raja Perumal Temple (Amaruviappan Temple), Therazhundur
Therazhundur (Thiruvazhundur)
Photo: Ssriram mt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Birthplace of the Sri Vaishnava preceptor Sailesa; associated with Kamban, author of the Tamil Ramayana.
Sthala Purāṇam
The Devaadi Raja Perumal Temple at Therazhundur, in Mayiladuthurai district, is a Divya Desam where Vishnu is worshipped as Devaadi Raja, also called Amaruviappan, with Sengamalavalli Thayar, revered as Loka Matha, the universal mother. The temple's name carries a chariot legend: Uparichara Vasu, a king who won from Brahma a chariot that could fly through the air, was crossing the sky when, by one account, his chariot disturbed the penance of a sage; by other accounts the king's neglect of Vishnu's worship halted it. The chariot (ther) sank and stuck fast (azhundu) at this spot, giving Therazhundur its name; the towering processional deity is shown with one foot lower, pressing the chariot down to earth. The deity's name Amaruviappan arises from a Krishna legend: when Brahma drove off the cattle of Krishna, the Lord created another herd, and on the repentant Brahma's request settled here; appearing for the sake of the cattle, he became Amaruviappan. The village is also celebrated as the birthplace of the great poet Kambar, author of the Kamba Ramayanam, whose image with his wives is carved within the Rajagopuram. The processional Lord is housed under the Garuda Vimanam, and the temple tank is the Darsa Pushkarani. The temple was praised by Thirumangai Alvar in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, and is traditionally said to have been built by the Chola king Karikala.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Devaadi Raja Perumal; Amaruviappan (Utsavar) with Sengamalavalli of Therazhundur (Thiruvazhundur) is glorified by:
Therazhundur (Thiruvazhundur), the abode of Devadiraja Perumal / Amaruviappan on the Cauvery, receives an unusually rich Mangalasasanam from Thirumangai Alvar, who devotes four consecutive decades of his Periya Thirumozhi to it (7.5, 7.6, 7.7 and 7.8 — about 41 pasurams), and also touches it in his Thirunedunthandakam and the Thirumadal works. He glorifies the Lord as the Krishna who broke Vasudeva's fetters, as the embodiment of the Vedas (Saama-Veda), and as Devadiraja, the king of gods, surrendering wholly at his feet. Nammalvar is also counted among the Alvars who sang this kshetram. The Therazhundur araiyar tradition still recites these Thiruvazhundur pasurams.
தந்தை காலில் பெருவிலங்கு தாள் அவிழ நள்ளிருட்கண் வந்த எந்தை பெருமானார் மருவி நின்ற ஊர் போலும் முந்தி வானம் மழை பொழியும் மூவா உருவின் மறையாளர் அந்தி மூன்றும் அனல் ஓம்பும் அணியார் வீதி அழுந்தூரே
thandhai kAlil peruvilangu thAL avizha naLLirutkaN vandha endhai perumAnAr maruvi ninRa Ur pOlum mundhi vAnam mazhai pozhiyum mUvAvuruvin maRaiyALar andhi mUnRum anal Ombum aNiyAr vIdhi azhundhUrE
This is the town of Thiruvazhundur where my Lord, who as the dark-night-born Krishna came and made the heavy fetters on his father Vasudeva's feet fall away, has lovingly taken his abode — a beautiful town of streets where ageless Vedic brahmins, by whose presence the heavens pour timely rain, tend the three sacred fires of the three twilights.
thiruvukkum thiruvAgiya selvA deivaththukku arasE seyya kaNNA uruva sem sudar Azhi vallAnE ulagu uNda oruvA thirumArbA
O wealth who are the very wealth of Lakshmi herself, O sovereign of the gods, O lotus-red-eyed Krishna, O wielder of the brilliant red discus, O peerless One who swallowed the worlds and bear Lakshmi on your sacred chest — Thirumangai's surrender at the feet of Devadiraja (Amaruviappan) of Thiruvazhundur. (Transliteration sourced; exact Tamil orthography not independently verified, so Tamil field left blank.)
Tamil text & meaning sourced from divyaprabandham.koyil.org and other Śrī Vaiṣṇava authorities — please cross-check the linked source for the canonical reading.
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