Ashtabhuja Perumal Temple (Ashtabujakaram)
Thiru Ashtabujam
Photo: Ssriram mt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Rare eight-armed (ashtabhuja) form of Vishnu, associated with the Gajendra Moksha legend.
Sthala Purāṇam
The Ashtabhuja Perumal Temple, also called Ashtabujakaram or Sri Aadhikesava Perumal Temple, in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, is one of the 108 Divya Desams, where Vishnu is worshipped as the eight-armed Ashtabhuja Perumal with his consort as Alarmelmangai. The sthala puranam arises from a dispute between the goddesses Saraswati and Lakshmi over superiority. When Indra and Brahma judged Lakshmi the greater, the angered Saraswati sought to disrupt the Ashwamedha yagna Brahma was performing, taking various forms including the river Vegavati and sending asuras to destroy the sacrifice; Vishnu protected the rite. When Saraswati finally sent a ferocious serpent, Vishnu manifested as Ashtabhuja Perumal, bearing eight weapons to slay it. The presiding deity faces west and is adorned with a garland of shaligrama stones and Mahalakshmi on the chest. His eight hands hold the chakra, conch, sword, shield, mace, bow, arrow and a lotus flower. A second legend links the shrine to Gajendra Moksha, for it is here that the Lord granted darshan and salvation to the elephant Gajendra, a rebirth of Indradyumna, who was seized by a crocodile while gathering lotuses; hence the Lord is also called Gajendra Varadhan and Chakradhar. The temple was revered in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Peyalvar and Thirumangai Alvar. It ranks among the larger temples of southern Kanchipuram and is counted among the city's important Vishnu Divya Desams.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Ashtabhuja Perumal (Aadikesava) with Alarmel Mangai (Pushpakavalli) of Thiru Ashtabujam is glorified in 11 pāsurams by:
Ashtabujakaram (Sri Ashtabhuja / Aadhikesava Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram — the 44th Divya Desam) is unusually richly sung for a Kanchi shrine: it has the Mangalasasanam of Thirumangai Alvar and Pey Alvar, totalling 11 pasurams. Thirumangai Alvar dedicates an entire decade — Periya Thirumozhi 2.8 (10 verses, beginning 'thiripuram') — wholly to this eight-armed form, each verse built as a question-and-answer ('Who is this?') ending with the Lord's signature reply 'ashtabujakaraththEn' (I am He of Ashtabujakaram). Pey Alvar adds one verse in Moonram Thiruvandhadhi praising the eight-weaponed Lord of Attabuyakaram who once hurled his discus to slay the crocodile (Gajendra moksham). Later acharyas Vedanta Desika (Ashtabhuja-ashtakam) and Manavala Mamunigal also composed verses here.
Verses & references (2)
- The whole decade glorifies Ashtabhuja Perumal. In 2.8.3 the Alvar marvels at the Lord bearing eight divine weapons — in his right hands the golden-shining arrow, mighty bow, mace and conch; and the bright sword, the radiant discus, the shield and a lovely flower — He who slew the elephant Kuvalayapidam, declaring himself the Lord of Thiru-attabuyakaram. Each of the ten verses ends with the refrain that He is 'ashtabujakaraththEn'. — Thirumangai Alvar, Periya Thirumozhi 2.8.1–2.8.10 (decade); sample 2.8.3 'sempon ilangu' · source ↗
- Pey Alvar praises the Lord as the ever-victorious one bearing eight kinds of weapons, the Lord of Attabuyakaram, who in days of old hurled his discus into the pond to destroy the powerful crocodile (the Gajendra-moksham episode) — a single Mangalasasanam verse for this shrine. — Pey Alvar, Moonram Thiruvandhadhi (Mūnṟām Tiruvantāti) 99 (one verse) · source ↗
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