Jagadeeswara Perumal Temple, Thiruneeragam
Thiruneeragam
Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
One of four Divya Desams housed within the single Ulagalantha Perumal temple complex.
Sthala Purāṇam
The presiding deity at Thiruneeragam is Sri Neeragathan, also called Jagadeeswarar, in a standing posture under the Jagadeeswara Vimana, with Thaayar Nilamangai Valli; the sacred tank is Akroora Theertham. The sthalam's lore is built on the symbolism of water (neer), the root of the name Thiruneeragam. As water flows without discrimination toward every opening and fills every vessel, so Emperuman flows into the hearts of His devotees and fills them with bhakti; the coolness of water represents the Lord's soothing grace, and its purifying nature represents the spiritual cleansing required for moksha, for before the divine all beings are equal, just as water reaches all alike. Thiruneeragam is one of four Divya Desams clustered together in Kanchipuram alongside Thiru Ooragam (Ulagalantha Perumal), Thirukaaragam and Thirukaarvanam, all believed once to have been independent temples. Today the Thiruneeragam shrine is housed within the Ulagalantha Perumal (Thiru Ooragam) temple complex, behind the sixteen-pillar mandapam in its prakaram. The tradition links this clustering to the Vamana-Trivikrama legend, the central deity of the complex. This Divya Desam is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Thirumangai Alvar, with the broader complex also associated with Thirumazhisai Alvar.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Jagadeeswara Perumal (Neeragathan) with Nilamangai Thayar of Thiruneeragam is glorified in 1 pāsurams by:
Thiruneeragam (Sri Jagadeeswara Perumal / Neeragathan, now enshrined within the Ulagalantha Perumal temple complex, Kanchipuram) has the Mangalasasanam of Thirumangai Alvar with one pasuram. The classic reference is Thirunedunthandakam 8, which actually OPENS with this shrine: 'neeragaththAy!' — the Alvar invoking the Lord of Thiruneeragam first, evoking water (neer) as the life-elixir of all beings, before naming the cluster of neighbouring Kanchi shrines (Nilathingal Thundam, Ooragam, Vehka, Kaaragam, Kaarvanam, Kalvanur) in the same verse.
Verses & references (1)
- The verse begins by calling on 'neeragaththAy' — the Lord of Thiruneeragam, who like water is the very life-line of all creatures — and goes on to address the same Lord present atop the great hill, at Nilathingal Thundam, pervading Kanchi at Ooragam, reclining at Vehka, standing at Kaaragam and Kaarvanam, and concealed as the 'thief' of Kalvanur. This single verse is the shared Mangalasasanam for Thiruneeragam and its sister Kanchi shrines. — Thirumangai Alvar, Thirunedunthandakam 8 · source ↗
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