Aadhi Varaha Perumal Temple, Thirukkalvanur
Thirukkalvanur
Photo: Chronikhiles · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons
A rare Vishnu Divya Desam located inside a Shakti temple (Kamakshi Amman).
Sthala Purāṇam
The presiding deity at Thirukkalvanur is Aadhi Varaha Perumal, the primordial Varaha (boar) avatar of Vishnu, with Thaayar Anjilai Valli Naachiyar (Bhudevi / Nilamangai), worshipped in a standing posture facing west. The shrine is uniquely situated inside the Kamakshi Amman temple complex in Big Kanchipuram, to the side of the goddess's sanctum. The form recalls the classic Varaha legend, in which Vishnu incarnated as a boar to lift Bhudevi, the Earth goddess, on His tusks and rescue her after the demon Hiranyaksha had dragged her into the cosmic ocean, linking the Lord here to His consort Bhudevi as the rescued Earth. The local sthala puranam explains the name 'Kalvan' (thief) and hence Thirukkalvanur: while Parvathi (as Kamakshi) and Sri Lakshmi were bathing in the Kama Koshtam, Emperuman watched them concealed behind a pillar; on being discovered, the goddess playfully 'punished' Him by making Him stand, sit and recline, and named Him Kalvan, the one who took darshan stealthily. Because the Lord 'stole' that hidden glimpse, He grants only limited, restricted darshan within the goddess's shrine. The Divya Desam is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, with Mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Alvar (one pasuram in Periya Thirumozhi), establishing it among the 108 Divya Desams.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Aadhi Varaha Perumal with Anjilaivalli Nachiyar of Thirukkalvanur is glorified in 1 pāsurams by:
Thirukkalvanur (Sri Aadhi Varaha Perumal Temple, housed within the Kamakshi Amman temple complex at Kanchipuram) has the Mangalasasanam of just one Alvar, Thirumangai Alvar, who credits it with a single pasuram. It is one of the small Kanchi Divya Desams that Thirumangai invokes in his Thirunedunthandakam, where the lovelorn heroine calls upon the Lord by his presence across many Kanchi shrines and names 'kaLvanUr' — the playful 'thief' (kalvan) who steals away the devotee's heart — alongside Neeragam, Ooragam, Kaaragam, Kaarvanam and Nilathingal Thundam. Authorities (divyadesam.com, Wikipedia) consistently report 'Thirumangai Alvar – 1 pasuram'.
Verses & references (1)
- In this verse the Alvar (in the heroine's voice) cries out to the one Lord who simultaneously stands at Thiruneeragam, atop the great hill (Thirumalai/Tirupati), at Thiru Nilathingal Thundam, who pervades all of Kanchi at Thiru Ooragam, reclines at Thiruvekka, stands at Thirukkaaragam and Thirukkaarvanam, and hides his beauty as the 'thief' at Kalvanur — lamenting that her weakened senses cannot reach his feet. Kalvanur is thereby honored in this single shared Mangalasasanam pasuram. — Thirumangai Alvar, Thirunedunthandakam 8 · source ↗
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