Sri Loganatha Perumal Temple Location
Sri Loganatha Perumal, Thirukannangudi divya desam is located just a little off the coast of the Bay of Bengal near Nagapattinam is a cluster of divya desams scattered around. Three of these small villages/ towns are what we will look into today.
Thirukannangudi – A small village located just a few km due west of the town of Nagapattinam.
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Sthalapuranam
The Sage Vasishta worshipped the Lord with a murthy made of pure butter. The Lord decided to test him one day and came in the form of a young boy. While playing he ate up the butter idol. When Vasishta saw this, he chased the boy who landed in this sthalam where many rishis were doing tapas (penance).
They gathered and requested the Lord to give darshan in this form here. The Lord consented.
He is known as ‘Lokanatha Perumal’ (Lord of the world) or ‘Damodara Narayana Perumal’. The universal mother is known as ‘Lokanayaki or Aravindavalli’.
Special features
Thirumangai Alwar robbed a golden statue to pay for his expenses in the construction of a compound wall at Srirangam. When he was on his way back, he rested under a tamarind tree and requested the tree to watch over the stolen gold temporarily buried below. The tree is supposed to have remained on guard all night allowing Alwar to rest undisturbed. He blessed it with the name Urangaa Pulli (non-sleeping tamarind).
The next morning the owner of the land arrived and claimed ownership of the gold because it was buried on his land. Alwar claimed he owned the land and had the proof in Srirangam. He promised to bring the proofs next day. He never turned up. This is considered as Theera Vazhakku (unsolved dispute).
Similarly, when he felt thirsty the people of village refused water because of the unsolved dispute. He cursed the wells to remain dry (oora kinnaru). Subsequently when he again slept under a maghizam tree, the tree blew cool breeze over him. The Lord came in the form of a stranger and fed Alwar and gave him to drink.
When alwar woke up, he felt rested and fed and thirst quenched. He blessed the tree to never go dry (kaayaa maghizham).
Mangalasasanam
Thirumangai Alwar in Peria Thirumozhi (1748-1757) opens up by extolling the virtues of this place. In addition to being the place where the Lord who rests on Adhisesha on the sea with his divya ayudhams, it is also the place where learned elders who are well versed in ithihasas, who conduct the various yajnas live.
In the succeeding stanzas he identifies the sthalam as the one in which the Lord who took various avataars such as matsya and kurma resides.
