Valvil Ramar Perumal Temple, Thiruppullamboothangudi
Thiruppullam Boothankudi
Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Associated with the liberation of Jatayu.
Sthala Purāṇam
Thiruppullamboothangudi enshrines the Lord as Valvil Ramar, Rama of the strong bow, and its sthala puranam, drawn from the Brahmanda and Padma Puranas, is bound to the Ramayana episode of Jatayu. When Ravana bore away Sita in his Pushpaka Vimana, the noble eagle-king Jatayu fought him valiantly and fell mortally wounded. Searching for Sita, Sri Rama found the dying bird, who narrated all before breathing his last. Rama, grieving as for a father, performed the final funeral rites of Jatayu at this spot beneath a Punnai tree, the obsequies he had been unable to render fully to Dasaratha. Because the eagle (pull, of the bird race) attained his end and Rama rested here, the place became Pullamboothangudi. Since the wife of the performer must be present at the rites and Sita was absent, Bhumadevi is said to have manifested from a golden lotus to accompany Rama; she abides here as the Thayar, named Hemambujavalli (Potramaraiyal, she of the golden lotus), in her own sannidhi. The Lord here is uniquely worshipped with four arms, bearing the conch and discus along with the bow. The vimana is the Sobhana Vimana and the temple's sacred tirtham is the Kiruthra Theertham. Thirumangai Alvar has sanctified the shrine with his pasurams.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Valvil Ramar with Hemambujavalli (Potramaraiyaal) of Thiruppullam Boothankudi is glorified by:
Thiruppullamboothangudi (Valvil Ramar Perumal temple, near Kumbakonam) is celebrated as the place where Rama performed the funeral rites of Jatayu; the Lord uniquely appears four-armed with conch and discus. Mangalasasanam is firmly attributed to Thirumangai Alvar, who sang ten pasurams (one Periya Thirumozhi decad) on the temple, per divyadesam.com. Some sources additionally connect Kulasekhara Alvar to the shrine, but this is contested and not consistently supported; the secure attribution is Thirumangai Alvar, matching the input data.
Verses & references (1)
- Thirumangai Alvar sang a decad of ten pasurams on Valvil Ramar of Thiruppullamboothangudi — the Lord depicted as Rama who performed the last rites of the eagle-king Jatayu (Pullam/Jatayu) at this very spot, and who alone among Rama shrines is shown four-armed bearing conch and discus. The Alvar extols this compassionate Rama and the holiness of the abode. — Thirumangai Alvar, Periya Thirumozhi · source ↗
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