|
Srivaikuntanathan Perumal Temple (also called Srivaikuntam temple and Kallapiran temple) in Srivaikuntam, a town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It is located 22 km from Tirunelveli. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the ''Divya Prabandha'', the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 ''Divyadesam'' dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Vaikuntanathar and his consort Lakshmi as Vaikuntavalli.〔.〕 The temple is also classified as a Navatirupathi, the nine temples revered by Nammazhwar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. The temple is next only to Alwarthirunagari Temple in terms of importance among the nine Navatirupathi temple. The temple is one of the Navagraha temples in Vaishnavism, associated with Surya, the Sun god. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and two of its three bodies of water. The ''rajagopuram'', the temple's gateway tower, is tall. The Vijayanagar and Nayak kings commissioned paintings on the walls of the shrine of temple, some of which are still present. Thiruvengadamudayan hall houses rare life size sculptures commissioned during the 16th century. Srivaikuntanathar is believed to have appeared to slay the demon Somuka who abducted the four ''Vedas''. The presiding deity is called Pal Pandian as a cow performed ablution daily to the submerged deity during the Pandyan era and Kallapiran as he helped a thief who prayed to Vishnu while he was in trouble. The temple follows Thenkalai tradition of worship. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the ten day annual Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of ''Chittirai'' (April - May) and the Nammazhwar birth celebrations with Garudasevai with all nine temple of Navatirupathi, being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. ==Legend== As per Hindu legend, Somuka, a demon, defeated Brahma, the Hindu god of creation and stole the four ''Vedas'' (sacred texts) from him. Brahma was helpless and he did severe penance in the banks of Tamiraparani River seeking favour from Vishnu in the from of Vaikuntanathan. Pleased by the penance, Vishnu appeared to Brahma and promised to retrieved the ''Vedas''. He killed the demon Somuka and restored the ''Vedas'' to Brahma. He also wished to set his abode as Srivakuntam and resided there as Vaikuntanatha.〔 As per another legend, the image of Vaikunatha, over the period of several ages, had no patrons and was left submerged under the earth. A cow from a herd of the king, which used to graze at the place, did ablution at the place with its where Vaikuntanatha lay buried. The king was displeased to see that a particular cow alone was not yielding milk and thought it might have been the trick of the herdsman. He deployed his men to monitor the cow, who reported the events to the king. The king realised that the cow would lead him to divinity and he dug up the region around the place. He reinstated the image of Vaikunatha and expanded the temple. Since Vaikunatha was revealed by the cow, the presiding deity got the name Pal Pandian (''pal'' in Tamil indicates milk).〔 Kaladushana was a head of robbers in the region, but also was a staunch devotee of Vaikunathar. He stole from the rich and distributed the wealth to the poor people in the region. The ruling Pandya king wanted to arrest him, but his attempts were futile. During one of the encounters, he could arrest everyone except Kaladushana. Kaladushana prayed to Vaikunathana to save him and his troop from the king. Vaikunatha appeared as Kaldushana and surrendered before the king. Later, he appeared in the dreams of the king to naraate the events and also informed him that he wanted the king and the people to learn that large accumulation of ill-gotten wealth would be stolen and would reach the right hands. The king was enlightened and he released Kaladushana and his troop. Since Vaikuntanathar appeared for thieves (called ''kalla'' in Tamil), he came to be known as Kallapiran.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Srivaikuntanathan Permual Temple」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|