The Naanmadiya Perumal Temple (also called Thalachanga Nanmathiyam) is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple situated in the village of Thalaichangadu, near Akkur in

Mayiladuthurai district Mayiladuthurai district is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The district headquarters is located at Mayiladuthurai. Geography The district is bounded on the north by Cuddalore district, on the west by Thanjavur ...

in the

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the ''

Nalayira Divya Prabandham The Naalayira Divya Prabandham ( ta, நாலாயிரத் திவ்வியப் பிரபந்தம், lit=Four Thousand Divine Hymns, translit=Nālāyira Divya Prabandham) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed by ...

'', the early medieval

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

canon of the

Alvar An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prair ...

saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 ''

Divya Desams A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the las ...

'' dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Nanmadiya Perumal and his consort

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

as Talaichanga Nachiar. The temple is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m and has four daily rituals at various times of the day. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the ten-day annual

Vaikuntha Ekadashi Vaikuntha Ekadashi () is a Hindu occasion and festival. It is primarily observed by Vaishnavas, who regard it to be a special Ekādaśī. It coincides with '' Mokṣadā Ekādaśī'' or Putrada Ekādaśī. It is observed on the 11th lunar da ...

during the

month of ''Margali'' (December - January) being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature ...

Legend

It is believed that Vishnu appeared for

Chandra Chandra ( sa, चन्द्र, Candra, shining' or 'moon), also known as Soma ( sa, सोम), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) an ...

, the moon god, who worshipped Vishnu at this place. As per

legend, Chandra, the moon god, is treated second after

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a ...

, the sun god, among the

Navagraha Navagraha are nine heavenly bodies and deities that influence human life on Earth according to Hinduism and Hindu astrology. The term is derived from ''nava'' ( sa, नव "nine") and ''graha'' ( sa, ग्रह "planet, seizing, laying hold of, ...

s, the nine planetary deities. He is also considered the brother of Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, as he emerged during the

churning of the Ocean of Milk The Samudra Manthana ( sa, समुद्रमन्थन; ) is a major episode in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a major text of Hinduism. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita. N ...

. Chandra once conducted a sacrifice called rajasuya yajna, which was attended by all the celestial deities. Tara, the wife of

Brihaspati Brihaspati ( sa, बृहस्पति, ), also known as Guru, is a Hindu deity. In the ancient Vedic scriptures of Hinduism, Brihaspati is a deity associated with fire, and the word also refers to a rishi (sage) who counsels the devas (god ...

(Jupiter) was attracted to Chandra. The moon god took away Tara from Brihaspati, leading to the

Tarakamaya War The Tarakamaya War () is described to be an ancient conflict in Hindu mythology, instigated by the elopement of Tara, the consort of Brihaspati, by Soma, the god of the moon. It is mentioned in the Padma Purana, and described to be the fifth war ...

. Brihaspati cursed Chandra to be afflicted by disease. Tara gave birth to Budha (Mercury) for Chandra. According to the temple's regional legend, to free himself of the curse, Chandra started worshipping Vishnu in this place. Since the presiding deity holds the famous conch, this place came to be known as Talaichankam, with '' cankam'' meaning conch.

Architecture and history

Nanmathiya Perumal temple is situated in the village of Thalaichangadu, near Akkur in

in the

n state of

. The temple is built in Dravidian style of architecture. It has a single tiered

gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Malayalam: ഗോപുരം, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Telugu: గోపురం) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the Sout ...

and a temple tank in front of it and is called Chandra Pushkarani. The temple has one precinct and two shrines. The temple has a shrine for Naanmadiya Perumal facing east. It has a

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

that is considered one of its kind. It is located on the southern bank of river

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu d ...

. The place was very famous during the

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

regime for conch as it was closer to their port town

Poompuhar Puhar (also known as Poompuhar) is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri Poompattinam, which is described in Sangam literature like Silappa ...

. The place finds mention in the

Sangam literature The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...

Cilappatikaram ''Cilappatikāram'' ( ta, சிலப்பதிகாரம் ml, ചിലപ്പതികാരം,IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, ''lit.'' "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as ''Silappathikaram'' or ''Silappatikaram'', is the e ...

''. The temple and the place has been patronized by the Chola kings. The temple was in a dilapidated condition and it was renovated by Suntara Ramanuja. Like Shiva, the presiding deity sports a crescent in his head.

Festival, religious practices and religious significance

The temple follows the traditions of the

Tenkalai Sri Vaishnavism, or the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya, is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who ...

sect of Vaishna tradition and follows the '' Pancharatra Agama''. The temple priests perform the '' puja'' (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

community, from the Brahmin class. The temple rituals are performed three times a day: ''Kalasanthi'' at 10:00 a.m., ''Uchikalam'' at 12:00 p.m., ''Sayarakshai'' at 3:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: ''alangaram'' (decoration), ''neivethanam'' (food offering) and ''deepa aradanai'' (waving of lamps) for both Vaithamanidhi and Kolurvalli. During the last step of worship, '' nadasvaram'' (pipe instrument) and ''

tavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, fol ...

'' (percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in the ''

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

'' (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The temple is revered in the ''

'', the 7th–9th century

Sri Vaishnava Sri Vaishnavism, or the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya, is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who ...

canon, by

Thirumangai Alvar Thirumangai Alvar (IAST: ), also referred to as Thirumangai Mannan is the last of the 12 Alvar saints of south India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. He is considered one of the most learned Alvar ...

. The temple is classified as a ''

Divya Desam A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the las ...

'', one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple finds mention in several works like the ''108 Tirupati Antati'' by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar.

References

External links

{{Famous Vishnu temples Vishnu temples in Mayiladuthurai district