Ninra Narayana Perumal Temple, Thiruthangal

Sthala Purāṇam

Thiruthangal, the Ninra Narayana Perumal temple in Virudhunagar, crowns a small hill and enshrines Lord Ninra Narayana, locally Thiruthangalappan, standing east-facing in the Vaikhanasa tradition with the abhaya mudra. The very name Ninra signifies the standing Lord. The consort Goddess is Sengamala Thayar (Arunakamala Mahadevi), enshrined separately, with Sridevi and Bhudevi present. The place-name Thiruthangal derives from the Tamil thangal, to stay or remain: in a contest among Vishnu's consorts over who was foremost in devotion, Sridevi performed intense penance here as Sengamala Thayar, and the Lord, well pleased, stayed (thangal) here with His consorts, giving the place its name. Among its legends are the marriage of Aniruddha and Usha, daughter of the asura Banasura, solemnized here after Krishna defeated Banasura; the liberation of one Chandraketu, reborn as a tiger and freed by worshipping the Lord; and a dispute between the banyan tree and Adisesha judged by Brahma, after which the banyan became the Thangala hill upon which the temple stands. The temple is noted for a distinctive four-armed Garuda, whose upper hands fold in anjali while the lower hold a pot of amrita and the serpent Vasuki; for Garuda, the natural enemy of serpents, holds the snake as a companion, devotees pray here that enmity may turn to friendship. The vimana is the Somachandra Vimana, likened to those of Srirangam and Azhagar Kovil, and the temple tank is the Papanasa Theertham, the destroyer of sin. This Divya Desam was hymned by Bhoothath Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar.

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