VARADARAJAPERUMAL TEMPLE, TIRUNELVELI-TAMILNADU-COMPILED Dear friends,
Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple is an ancient and well-knownVishnu temple lies on the banks of Thamiravarni River at Tirunelveli, TamilNadu. The temple is at a distance of 1km from Tirunelveli Railway Station. Itis considered as one of the oldest temples in South India and also one of thetop Places to visit in Tirunelveli. Today my posting is about this temple. Hope a divine reading. Gopalakrishnan 8-7-2025 Introduction The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The main deity of thetemple is Veeraraghavan and the Utsava Moorthy is Sri Varadaraja Perumal, afterwhom the temple is named. Thetemple complex is maintained well by the temple authorities and corner of thetemple is being kept clean, the authorities are constantly cleaningeven tiny bits of litters. It is considered as one of the oldest temples inSouth India and also one of the top Places to visit in Tirunelveli. The temple is committed to Lord Vishnu. The fundamental god of the temple isVeeraraghavan and the Ustava Moorthy is Sri Varadharaja Perumal,after whom the temple is named. History According to the history, king Krishna Varma was ruling thisregion. Once he found an idol made of blue stone while bathing in ThamiravarniRiver. He built a temple installing the deity and named him Varadaraja Perumal.Deeply plunged in the worship of the Lord, the king was not prepared militarilyto face the invasion on his land. He prayed to the Lord to protect him, hissubjects and his land. Respondingto the prayers of the king, Lord came to the battlefield in his form, foughtand drove the enemies back. King Krishna Varma felt happy andconstructed this temple for Lord Veeraraghavan to show his gratitude. The history of this temple says that since the Lord appeared here in the name ofVeeraraghava Perumal, this area also got the name Veeraraghavapuram. History in detail In ancient times, this area on the banks of the ThamirabaraniRiver was ruled by a king named Krishnavarman of the Chandra dynasty, who ruledwith justice and righteousness. This king, who excelled in divine worship,lived with the goal of building innumerable temples on this earth for thethree-eyed chief Parameswaran and for Paranthaman, who has a shrine on thePampana in the ocean of milk. Similarly, he renovated many old temples, builtnew temples, and performed Kumbabhishekam on them. He provided various giftsand subsidies so that daily worship and annual festivals could be heldregularly in the temple he built. In this way, the king, who lived day and night in the temple,was jealous of the country of the king, who gathered four types of armies fromhis country and came to war. King Krishnaraja Sharma, who had not thought about this atall, was distraught at the situation. In this difficult situation, VaradarajaPerumal, who was worshipped by him by building the temple and installing in it ,surrendered before him and sat chanting the Narayana mantra with troubled eyes.Seeing the plight of his devotee, Paranthaman, who was relieved, transformedhimself into King Krishnaraja Sharma and gathered his troops and entered thebattlefield. After defeating the enemy king who had invaded the battlefield andclaiming victory, Perumal went to his abode, the Ocean of Milk, and slept inPampanai. Knowing what had happened, King Krishnaraja Sharma was happy andpraised the Lord he worshipped for coming and fighting for him. Temple structure The five-tieredRajagopuram stands slightly higher at the entrance of this temple, whichfaces east. If you worship this Rajagopuram and go inside, there is a flag pole and an altar in the fronthall. Next to this, Garudazhwar appears directly opposite the sanctum. If youworship him and go inside, you will see Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi in thesanctum, Sri Veeraragava Perumal, standing with four arms.. The Perumal, whocame in his own form for the king and entered the battlefield, bestowsblessings on us by giving us the boons we need. The temple precincts have the shrines of Chakrathazhwar,Narasimha, Vedavalli Thayar, Perundevi Thayar, the twelve Azhwars, andAnjaneyar respectively. In the northern precincts there is the Paramapatha Vasaand outside it is the Paramapatha Mandapam. Deities The main deity Lord Veeraraghavan appears very handsome andmajestic in the sanctum along with Goddesses, Vedhavalli Thayar and Perundevi Thayar. The temple also houses many other sannidhis that include Yoga Narasimhar Sannidhi, Alwar’s Sannidhi,Vikshwasenar sannidhi, Garudar sannidhi and so on. In this temple, Lord Hanuman graces in worshipping form standing before the presidingdeity Lord Veeraraghavan. Festivals The 10 daysChithirai festival during April-May, annual Abishek festival in May - June, Adi festival,Krishna Jayanthi and Sri Ramanavami are the popular festivals celebratedin this temple. HanumanJayanthi, the festival of the monkey god, is also celebrated for 10 daysin Marghazi (December- January). Five days of Unjalutsavam starts with Deepavali. In Karthigai month "Sokkapanai" festival iscelebrated on the full moon day. Alwar thirunakhsatrams and related Uthsavams are celebratedregularly every year. Timings: 7 AM - 11 AM & 6 PM - 9 PM Theerthams: Veeraragava Theertham, Thamiravarni Theertham. Temple Specialities : Muthuswamy Dikshitar, one of the three greats of Carnaticmusic, has composed and sung a song in the Saranga raga, beginning with "VaradarajanUpasmahe", dedicated to Lord Varadaraja here. The temple walls are covered with beautiful paintingsdepicting various stories of Lord Vishnu. One of the main features of thetemple is the statue of Lord Narasimha which has been placed behind the statueof Sardarshahar. Poojas The Tirunelveli Varadaraja Perumal temple follows the Vadakalai tradition. Thisis evident from the temple's architecture, the symbols worn by the deities, andthe practices of the priests, all of which align with Vadakalai customsFourdaily pujas are performed in this temple: Kala sandhi, Uchikaalam, Sayaratchai,and Arthasamam. On Vaikunta Ekadashi,the Lord of this temple, Varadaraja, appears in a reclining position from earlymorning to late afternoon. The Garuda Seva Utsavam is celebrated here on all Saturdaysof the month of Purattasi. The chariot race on the tenth day of the ten-day Brahmotsavafestival held here in the month of Chithirai is held with great pomp. In this temple, theChakrathazhwar, who is enshrined in a separate shrine, is very powerful. By worshippinghim, one can get rid of the troubles of enemies. He is dressed in a goldenarmor and special worship is performed. Behind him, Narasimha is also depictedin the same idol. Location / Directions: The Melaveeraragavapuram Varadaraja Perumal Temple is locatedabout half a kilometer fromthe Tirunelveli Junction Bus Stand. It can be reached in aten-minute walk from the Tirunelveli Junction Bus Stand and the JunctionRailway Station. Airport- Thoothukudi - 1hr 7min(53.2km) Nearest railway station-Tirunelveli Jn - 3min(600m) Tirunelveli Town Bus stand - 12min(3.7km) Palayamkottai Bus stand - 18min(6.2km) Temple chariot A new car (Ratham) was offered in May 2015 (chitrai brahmosthavam) to Lord Varadharaja swamy bySri Lakshmi Vallabha trust with help from the public, The car/chariot (ratham) is 32 feet tall and 13 feet wide with as many asbeautiful 350 teak wood carvings 52chiming bells in it. Know before you go Visit during Athyayana Uthsavam (21 days prior to Vaikunda Ekadashi)or Brahmotsavam (mid-April to mid-May) for lively celebrations Take time to appreciatethe cleanliness and maintenance efforts by the temple authorities Learn about the history and legends associated with thisancient site for a deeper understanding Don't miss seeing Shri Hanuman on the northern side of ShriVeeraragava Perumal Temple nearby Administration This Perumal temple has close link with Sri Vanamamalai Mutt,Nanguneri. The tradition has been that H.H. Vanamamalai Jeer swamigal getsthe first honour and respect in this temple. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1093977018.879999.1751952915288%40mail.yahoo.com.
