Pavala Vannar Perumal Temple, Thiruppavalavannam
Thiru Pavala Vannam
Photo: Ssriram mt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
The Lord of coral-red complexion, one of a twin pair representing different yuga-complexions of Vishnu.
Sthala Purāṇam
The deity at Thiru Pavala Vannam is Pavala Vannar Perumal, the coral-hued Lord (pavalam meaning coral), with Thaayar Pavalavalli, who has a separate shrine. The Lord's coral-red colour gives the kshetram its name, Thiru Pavala Vannam. This Divya Desam is unusual in that it comprises twin shrines that must both be worshipped to complete the pilgrimage: Pavala Vannar (coral-hued) and, a short distance away, Pachai Vannar (green or emerald-hued, also called Maragatha Vannar), the two together counted as a single Divya Desam. In the Sri Vaishnava account the two colours carry symbolism, the coral and the emerald hues representing complementary aspects of the divine. The temple stands in Kanchipuram near the Kamakshi Amman temple and the railway station. The lore explaining precisely why the Lord is coral-coloured is thin and not firmly documented in the primary Sri Vaishnava sources, so it is not asserted here as canonical. The shrine is venerated through the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, with Mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Alvar; the broader Pavala/Pachai Vannam tradition is also associated with the early Mudhal Alvars. (Sources differ on the moolavar's posture, some describing a standing form facing west and divyadesam.com describing a seated/reclining form on Adisesha facing west.)
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Pavala Vannar Perumal with Pavalavalli Thayar of Thiru Pavala Vannam is glorified in 1 pāsurams by:
Thiru Pavala Vannam (Pavala Vannar Perumal temple, Kanchipuram) is a Divya Desam where the Lord is praised by his coral hue (pavala vannam). It received a single pasuram of Mangalasasanam from Thirumangai Alvar, in his Thirunedunthandakam (verse 9), where the Alvar addresses the Lord as 'kachchip pavaLavaNNA' — the coral-coloured Lord of Kanchi. It is this very reference in the Thirunedunthandakam that establishes the shrine as one of the 108 Divya Desams.
Verses & references (1)
- Even after knowing You through sight, through hearing, through touch, through tasting and through smelling, all out of love, I am still unable to be saved without Your grace. O Lord of the white hue of old (in Krita Yuga), O dark-cloud-hued one, O dusky shyama-hued one, O coral-hued Lord of Kanchi (Pavala Vannan)! — it is Your golden feet that I long for. — Thirumangai Alvar, Thirunedunthandakam 9 · source ↗
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