Varadharaja
Perumal Temple
Varadharaja Perumal Temple or Hastagiri or Attiyuran is a
Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in the holy city of Kanchipuram,
Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu
believed to have been visited by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars.[1] It is
located in a suburb of Kanchipuram known as the Vishnu Kanchi that is a home
for many famous Vishnu temples. One of the greatest Hindu scholars of Vaishnava
VisishtAdvaita philosophy, Ramanuja is believed to have resided in this
temple.[2] The temple along with Ekambareswarar Temple and Kamakshi Amman
Temple in Kanchipuram is popularly known as Mumurtivasam (abode of trio),[3]
while Srirangam is referred to as ‘ The Koil’ (meaning: "temple") and
Tirupathi as the ‘Malai’ (Meaning: "hill"). Among the Divya Desams,
Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal temple is known as the ‘Perumal Koil’. This is
one of the most sacred places for Vaishnavites. There is another famous temple
of Varadarajaswamy in Kurmai, of Palamaner mandal in Chittor District of Andhra
Pradesh, called the Kurma Varadaraja Swamy Temple.
History
There is a belief that the temple was first built by the
Pallava king Nandivarman II.[4] Varadharaja Perumal Temple was originally built
by the Cholas in 1053[5] and it was expanded during the reigns of the great
Chola kings Kulottunga Chola I and Vikrama Chola. In the 14th century another
wall and a gopura was built by the later Chola kings. When a Mughul invasion
was expected in 1688, the main image of the deity was sent to Udayarpalayam,
now part of Tiruchirapalli District.[6] It was brought back with greater
difficulty after the involvement of local preceptor who enlisted the services
of general Todarmal.[6] Robert Clive, the British general during the colonial
period visited the Garuda seva festival and presented a valuable necklace (now
termed Clive Maharkandi), which is adorned during a special occasion every year.
The Temple
The Temple is huge within a 23-acre (93,000 m2) complex and
shows the architectural skills of ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis in temple
architecture and is famous for its holiness and ancient history. The temple has
3 outer precincts (prakarams) namely Azhwar Prakaram, Madai Palli Prakaram and
Thiru Malai Prakaram.[7] There are 32 shrines, 19 vimanams, 389 pillared halls
(most having the lion type yali sculpture)[8] and sacred tanks some of which located
outside the complex.[7][9]
The main sanctum faces west and can be entered through a 130
feet tall, 7-tiered rajagopuram (main gateway tower). The eastern gopuram is
taller than the western gopuram, which is contrasting to large temples where
the rajagopuram is the tallest one. One of the most famous architectural pieces
in the temple is the huge stone chain sculpted in a single stone. There is a
100 pillared hall which has sculptures depicting Ramayana and Mahabaratha. It
is a masterpiece of Vijayanagara architecture.
The shrine of Varadarajaswamy is on a small hillock 10m tall
and a flight of 24 steps, termed "Hasthagiri". It has murals of the
late Vijayanagara empire on the ceilingAnother significant features of the
temple are beautifully carved lizards and gilded with gold, over the sanctumThe
vimana over the sanctum of Varadaraja Swami is called Punyakoti Vimanam and the
one over Perundevi Thayar shrine is called Kalyana Koti Vimanam.
Apart from the main stone idol, the temple has the wooden
image of Varadarajaswamy preserved within a silver box from which water is
pumped out every 40 yearsThere is a shrine of Narasimha on the hillock.[7] The
origin of the mask of Narasimha is mysterious and believed to possess
inexplicable powers.
In the second precinct downstairs contains four shrines, of
which the important one is of Malayala Nachiar (Kerala consort), presumably
built during the Chera kings in the early 14th century.
The third precinct has the shrine of Goddess Perundevi
Thayar - it is customary for devotees to visit the shrine first before visiting
the main Perumal shrine. There are four small pillared halls, identical in
structure, called Thulabara Mandapas built during the 1532 for a ceremony of
Achutaraya of the Vijayanagara empire.
The image of Chakrathazwhar (Sudarsana) in the temple is
depicted with six hands. There festival image of the temple has seven different
images of Sudarshana depicted within the same Chakra.
Festival
The temple is famous for its huge umbrella used during festive
occasions. During the bhramotsavam (major festival) in Vaigasi (May/June),
thousands of people throng the temple and that increases at least by a two-fold
during the garuda vahanam and ther festival (temple chariot).
On normal days the temple is generally free except for some
locals and a few tourists.
Temple Administration
The pooja has been taken up Ayyangar community and the
administration is carried out by Hindu Religious and Endowment of the
Government of Tamil Nadu.[19]
The Thathacharyas are the custodians of the Kanchipuram
Perarulalan Kovil popularly known as Varadaraja Perumal temple. They are the
Pradhana Acharya Purushas in the protocol to receive and deliver the temple
honours. In retrospection Tirumalai Nambi's son Tirukkurukai Piran Pillan was
ordained by Ramanuja himself as the first and foremost among the 74
Peetadhipathis to propagate Visishtadwaita philosophy after him. Pillan was
also chosen by Ramanuja as the competent person to write the commentary on
``Tiruvaimozhi. The annotation of Tiruvaimozhi thus brought out by Pillan under
the behest of Ramanuja is called the famous `Araiyarpadi' the first gloss in
Manipravala, an elegant mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit words, on the Divya
Prabhandam. After Pillan, Tirumalai Srinivasacharya Thathacharya in the fifth
generation of Thathacharyas was installed by Vedanta Desika as the Sri Kariyam
of the Devaraja Swamy Kovil. Since then the office of Sri Kariyam is
institutionalised in the diligence and devotion of the Thathacharyas to the
Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram. Lakshmi Kumara Thatha Desikan
inherited this mantle from his ancestors and made epoch making contributions to
the temple annals. He was the Sri Kariya Durandhara - a phrase connoting
absolute dedication and authority - of the temple affairs. Simultaneously he
was also the Raja Guru of the Vijayanagar king Venkatapathi Deva Maharaj. In
Ayengarkulam, a village named after him near Kanchipuram, he built a tank and
temple to Sri Rama and Hanuman But in present period the temple is
administrated by the Tamil Nadu Government through the Ministry of Hindu
Religion and Charitable Endowments having the Thathachariars as the Honorary
Trustees. There is a verdict going on in the Courts to re-establish the right
of Administration entirely with the Thathachariar families as it was existing
before 1975 A.D
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