Vaikuntanatha Perumal Temple, Thiruvaikunda Vinnagaram
Thiru VaiKunda Vinnagaram
Photo: फ़िलप्रो (Filpro) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
One of the eleven Nangur Divya Desams.
Sthala Purāṇam
Thiru Vaikunda Vinnagaram in Thirunangur is one of the eleven Thirunangur Divya Desams, where Vishnu is worshipped as Vaikuntanatha (Vaikunda Nathan) with his consort Vaikundavalli. Like the other Thirunangur shrines, its origin is tied to a Shaivite legend: when his consort perished in Daksha's yagna, Shiva's furious dance caused eleven forms of Rudra to spring from his falling locks; to calm the cosmos, Vishnu intervened and, at Shiva's request, manifested himself in eleven forms across Thirunangur, of which this temple is one. The temple's distinctive legend is that the sage Udanga (Uthanga) Maharishi and King Uparisaravasu (Vasu) worshipped here and were granted a vision of the Lord exactly as he reposes in Vaikuntam, his celestial abode, seated in amarndha kolam with one leg folded, one hand resting on Adisesha and the other displaying the abhaya-varada hastam. Because the Lord revealed his very Paramapada (Vaikuntam) form here, the place is called Vaikunta Vinnagaram, and devotees believe one can have direct darshan of the heavenly form on earth itself; the Lord is accordingly also praised as Thamarai Kannudaya Piraan, the lotus-eyed one. The sanctum is roofed by the Ananta Satya Vartaka Vimanam, and the temple has two sacred tanks, the Lakshmi Pushkarini and the Viraja Pushkarini. The shrine is sung by Thirumangai Alvar in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. During the annual Garuda Sevai utsavam in the Tamil month of Thai, the deities of all eleven Nangur Divya Desams gather on their Garuda mounts.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Vaikuntanatha (Paramapadanatha) with Vaikuntavalli of Thiru VaiKunda Vinnagaram is glorified by:
Thiruvaikunda Vinnagaram (Vaikunta Nathan Perumal temple), one of the eleven Thirunangur Tirupathis near Sirkazhi, was given Mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Alvar in a decad of ten pasurams of his Periya Thirumozhi; the Lord here is Vaikuntanathan with Thayar Vaikundavalli, the deity worshipped as the very Vaikuntham brought to earth. The shrine is central to the famed annual Thirumangai Azhwar Mangalasasana Utsavam (the Garuda Sevai of all eleven Thirunangur temples). Wikipedia notes the temple is also generally counted in the Prabandham praised by Periyalvar and Thirumalisai Alvar, but the dedicated decad is Thirumangai Alvar's.
Verses & references (1)
- Thirumangai Alvar sang a full decad of ten pasurams on Vaikuntanathan of Thiruvaikunda Vinnagaram in Thirunangur, glorifying the Lord who, though the master of Paramapadam (Sri Vaikuntham), has graciously descended to dwell in this earthly Vaikuntham amid the eleven Thirunangur shrines, and calling devotees to take refuge in Him. — Thirumangai Alvar, Periya Thirumozhi · source ↗
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