Thondai Nadu – Lord Sri Veera Raghava Perumal – Tiruvallur
Location and Introduction
Tiruvallur is located nearly 30km west of Chennai and just north of the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway.
Click here for the Temple Location (Google Maps)
Sthalapuranam
According to legend, the sage Salihotra used to grind rice into flour and share half of it with others and keep the other half for his prayers and personal use. Lord Sri Veera Raghava Perumal decided to test him and so He came in the form of a hungry old Brahmin.
The sage fed the Lord till he exhausted all his stock of rice powder. Then the Lord asked the sage for a place to rest and the sage told Him that He could take rest there. Pleased, the Lord showed His true form and blessed the sage. He took a rest at that place and placed His right palm on the head of the sage and asked him what he wanted.
The sage said that the Lord should stay there and bless His devotees at all times. The Lord granted the wish.
Special Features
The Universal Mother, Kanakavalli Thayar is the consort of Lord Sri Veera Raghava Perumal. The ‘vimana’ is ‘Vijayakoti Vimanam’ and the ‘theertham’ is ‘Hruth-Thapapa- Nasini.’ Because the Lord asked where he could rest and was told that he could rest there, the Lord was known as Kingruhesan which in Tamil is ‘Evvul Kidandhaan.’
It is believed that the right hand of the Lord which is stretched is above the head of the sage Salihotra and His left hand is in ‘Jnana Mudra’ teaching Lord Brahma. It was believed that Lord Siva was able to cast off His ‘Brahma-haththya dosha’ by visiting this temple.
Hence there was a shrine to Lord Siva on the banks of the temple pond. It was believed that Mahalakshmi was born as the daughter of a local king and married the Lord.
Mangalasasanam
In his Naanmugan Tiruvandhadhi, (2412) Thirumazhisai Alwar refers to this shrine indirectly by pointing out that when Lord Siva got affected by the curse by Lord Brahma, it was Lord Narayana who ended it. Those who don’t know about worshipping Lord Narayana will suffer from conception and their story will be as long as the Mahabharata war.
In Peria Tirumozhi (1058-1067), Tirumangai Alwar identifies the Lord of Tiruvallur as the one who destroyed Lanka which was the capital city of the king who came in the guise of a ‘sanyasi’ to abduct Sita. The Lord as Lord Krishna stole the butter from women when He was a naughty boy. He now rests in Tiruvallur.
He was a child resting on a tender banyan leaf during the ‘Pralaya’ holding all the seven worlds in His stomach for a long time. He, with lotus-like eyes, rests in Tiruvallur surrounded by neithal flowers where bees hum and fly.
For the complete list of 108 Divya Desams, Click here
