Thirukkaar Vaanar Temple, Thirukkarvanam
Thiruk Kaarvaanam
Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Celebrated in Thirumangai Alvar's Thirunedunthandakam; one of the Ulagalantha shrines.
Sthala Purāṇam
The deity at Thirukaarvanam is Sri Kaarvaana Perumal (also called Kalvar Perumal), with consort Kamalavalli Nachiyar, one of the four Divya Desams housed today within the Ulagalantha Perumal (Thiru Ooragam) complex in Kanchipuram. The independent lore is sparse and largely shared with the parent shrine. The name 'Kaar' signifies the dark rain clouds, reflecting the cloud-hued, dark-complexioned form of the Lord and the cloud symbolism that runs through the Kanchi shrines of this complex, the Lord pouring grace as the clouds pour rain. The legend of this shrine is bound to the Vamana-Trivikrama avatara of the central Ulagalantha Perumal, in which Vishnu as the dwarf Vamana sought three paces of land from Mahabali and then expanded into the cosmic Trivikrama who measured the worlds, the legends of all four enclosed Divya Desams remaining linked to this central deity. The shrine is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Thirumangai Alvar, who sang of these Kanchi shrines. No distinct, independent sthala puranam unique to this shrine beyond the cloud-name meaning and its linkage to the Trivikrama legend is well attested.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Thirukkaar Vaanar (Neelamega Perumal) with Komalavalli Nachiyar of Thiruk Kaarvaanam is glorified in 1 pāsurams by:
Thiruk Kaarvaanam (Thirukkaar Vaanar, the Neelamega Perumal who dwells like a dark rain-cloud) is one of the cluster of small Kanchipuram Divya Desams whose deities are today enshrined within the Ulagalantha (Thiru Ooragam) Perumal temple. It received a single pasuram of Mangalasasanam from Thirumangai Alvar in his Thirunedunthandakam (verse 8), a famous verse in which the Alvar strings together several Kanchipuram shrines and addresses the Lord as 'kArvAnaththuLLAy' — the one who abides in Karvanam.
நீரகத்தாய் நெடுவரையின் உச்சிமேலாய் நிலாத்திங்கள் துண்டத்தாய் நிறைந்த கச்சி ஊரகத்தாய் ஒண்துறைநீர் வெஃகா உள்ளாய் உள்ளுவார் உள்ளத்தாய் உலகமேத்தும் காரகத்தாய் கார்வானத்து உள்ளாய் கள்வா காமருபூங் காவிரியின் தென்பால் மன்னு பேரகத்தாய் பேராதென் நெஞ்சின் உள்ளாய் பெருமான் உன் திருவடியே பேணினேனே
neeragaththAy nedu varaiyin uchchi mElAy nilAththingaL thuNdaththAy niRaindha kachchi UragaththAy oNthuRai neer vehkAvuLLAy uLLuvAr uLLaththAy ulagamEththum kAragaththAy kArvAnaththuLLAy kaLvA kAmarupUngAviriyin then pAl mannu pEragaththAy pErAdhen nenjin uLLAy perumAn un thiruvadiyE pENinEnE
O Lord who abides in Thiruneeragam; who stands atop the lofty hill (Thiruvenkatam); who is at Thiru Nilathingal Thundam; who reclines at Thirukkachi Ooragam in prosperous Kanchi; who dwells at Thiruvehka of beautiful watery ghats; who lives in the hearts of those who contemplate You; who stands at Thirukkaragam praised by all the world; who is in Thirukkaarvaanam, O thief (who steals devotees' hearts); who abides in Thirupperagam (Koviladi) on the southern bank of the lovely Kaveri; and who never leaves my heart — O my Lord, it is Your sacred feet alone that I have cherished.
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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