Thiru Parameswara Vinnagaram or Vaikunta Perumal Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the God Vishnu, located in

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...

in the Southern Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

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

Nalayira Divya Prabandham The Naalayira Divya Prabandham () is a collection of 4,000 Tamil language, Tamil verses composed by the 12 Alvars. It was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni, Nāthamuni during the 9th–10th centuries. The work, an important liturgical ...

'', the early medieval

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

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 prairie ...

saints from the 6th through the 9th centuries CE. It is one among the 108 '' Divya Desams'' dedicated to the God Vishnu, who is worshipped as Vaikuntanathan (lit. 'Lord of Vaikunta') and his consort, the Goddess

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

as Sri Vaikundavalli. The temple is considered the second oldest extant temple in Kanchipuram after the

Kailasanathar temple Kailasanathar Temple is the name of several Temple, temples and ancient religious sites found in Southeastern India, all dedicated to the deity Shiva in its form of Kailasanathar or Kailashanatha (). The designation refers to the Mount Kailash, whic ...

. The temple is believed to have been built by the

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...

Monarch

Nandivarman II Nandivarman II (718 CE – 796 CE) was a Pallava monarch who reigned in southern India. Sen states Nandivarman reigned from 731 CE to 796 CE and built the Vaikuntha-Perumal Temple. He was born in the country of Champa (present-day Vietnam), ...

(731 CE–796 CE), with later contributions from the Imperial Cholas and the Emperors of Vijayanagara. The temple is surrounded by a granite wall enclosing all the shrines and water bodies of the temple. Vaikuntanathan is believed to have appeared to King Viroacha. The temple follows Vaikasana Agama and observes six daily rituals and two yearly festivals. The temple follows Tenkalai mode of worship and is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

. The temple is one of the prominent tourist attractions in the city.

Legend

As per Hindu legend, the region where the temple is located was called Vidarbha Desa and ruled by a king named Viroacha. Due to his misdeeds in preceding birth, Virocha had no heir. He prayed in

Kailasanathar Temple Kailasanathar Temple is the name of several Temple, temples and ancient religious sites found in Southeastern India, all dedicated to the deity Shiva in its form of Kailasanathar or Kailashanatha (). The designation refers to the Mount Kailash, whic ...

and

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, the presiding deity of the temple gave a boon that the

Dvarapala A Dvarapala or Dvarapalaka (Sanskrit, "door guard"; IAST: ' ) is a door or gate guardian often portrayed as a warrior or fearsome giant, usually armed with a weapon - the most common being the Gada (mace), ''gada'' (mace). The dvarapala statue i ...

s (the gatekeepers) of the Vishnu temple will be born as sons to him. The princes were devoted to Vishnu and conducted yagna for the welfare of the people of their kingdom. Vishnu was pleased with the worship and appeared as Vaikundanatha to the princes. It is believed that in modern times Vishnu appears to devotees in the same form as he appeared to the Dvarapalakas Pallavan and Villalan. As per another legend, sage Bharadvaja was doing penance at this place and was attracted by a celestial nymph. The sage married her and they both got a son. The sage returned to his penance, while the nymph returned to her denizen. Shiva and Vishnu undertook the child under their aegis. At the same time, a

king worshipped Vishnu for the birth of a child. Vishnu gave the child to the king and named him Parameswara, who went on to become the Pallava king. The place is believed to have been named after the king.

History

According to Hultzh, Parameswara Vinnagaram was constructed by the Pallava Monarch

in 690 CE, while other scholars place it in the late 8th century. B.V. 1973, pp. 161-162 Nandivarman Pallavamallan was a worshipper of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

and a great patron of learning. He renovated old temples and built several new ones. Among the latter was the Parameswara Vinnagaram or the Vaikunta Perumal temple at

which contains inscribed panels of sculpture portraying the events leading up to the accession of Nandivarman Pallavamalla to the throne. The great Vaishnava saint Thirumangai Alvar was his contemporary. There are various inscriptions in the temple that detail the socio-economic and political situation of the country during the Pallava reign. Around the sanctum sanctorum in the first precinct, there is an inscription dated to the 8th century which records the gift of a bowl and an image made of gold measuring 1,000 sovereigns by King Abhimanasiddhi. During the period of Dantivarman I in 813, there was a gift of golden bowl weighing ten thousand ''kalanju''. There was another gift of 3,000 ''kalanju'' of gold to meet daily expenses of the temple. A record of gift of a devotee named Thiruvaranga Manickam to feed devotees of Vishnu is also seen in the temple. The temple is believed to have been constructed few years after the construction of

Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple The Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram, also referred to as the Kailasanatha temple, is a Pallava Dynasty, Pallava-era historic Hindu temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. Dedicated to Shiva, it is one of the oldest surviving monuments in Ka ...

. The bas reliefs in the temple reveal the war between the Pallavas and Gangas and also with

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

Architecture

Paramesvara Vinnagaram is an earliest specimen of Dravidian architecture. The temple has a rectangular plan and approached through a flat granite gateway tower. The

vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also menti ...

has a stepped pyramidal roof and it resembles a vihara. Three sanctuaries host the image of

in different postures - seated (ground floor), lying (first floor; accessible to devotees only on ekadashi days) and standing (second floor; inaccessible to devotees). The logical and complex plan of the temple provided a prototype for the much larger shrines to be constructed all over

. The external cloisters, with their lion pillars, are predecessors of the grand thousand pillared halls of later temples. In modern times, the four lions have been replaced with

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

(image of eagle mount of Vishnu). The cloister walls have a sequence of relief sculptures depicting the history of the Pallava dynasty. The first set of panels show the supposedly divine lineage of the Pallavas starting from

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

, followed by Angiras (sage),

Bṛhaspati Brihaspati (, ), is a Hindu god. In the ancient Vedic scriptures, Brihaspati is associated with fire, and the word also refers to a god who counsels the devas and devis (gods and goddesses). In some later texts, the word refers to the large ...

, Bharadvaja, Drona and

Ashwatthama Ashvatthama (, , also spelt as Ashwatthama and Ashvatthaman) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the son of Drona, the royal preceptor to the Kuru princes—the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Ashvatthama is a close ...

. These panels are followed by panels depicting the actual Pallava kings themselves. A typical panel shows the king on the left frame of the panel. In some cases, the coronation of the king is shown as can be seen by priests pouring sacred water on his head. The right side of the panel shows battle scenes or other events during that monarch's reign. The panels of

Mahendravarman I Mahendravarman I (600–630 CE) was a Pallava emperor who ruled over realm covering the southern portions of present-day Andhra region and northern regions of what forms present-day Tamil Nadu in India, in the early 7th century. He was a schol ...

and

Narasimhavarman I Narasimhavarman I was a Pallava emperor who reigned from 630 CE to 668 CE. He shared his father Mahendravarman I's love of art and completed the works started by Mahendravarman in Mamallapuram. During his reign, the famous Pancha Rathas ...

show the battles with Pulakesin II of the Badami Chalukyas. Finally, there are panels that show the search and the finding of a successor after Paramesvaravarman II's early death. The successor is none other than

, who built this temple. The niches on the walls around the sanctum are similar to the ones in

Mahabalipuram Mamallapuram (also known as Mahabalipuram), is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of ...

. Some of the sculptures depict various events from the Mahabaratha, depicting the images of Dharmaraja,

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

and

Bhima Bhima (, ), also known as Bhimasena (, ), is a hero and one of the most prominent characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. As the second of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima was born to Kunti—the wife of King Pandu—fathered by Vayu, the ...

. The temple is built of granite with a mixture of sandstone. The three storied temple is the forerunner for various later built temples like Vaikunta Perumal temple at Uthiramerur, Koodal Azhagar temple at

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and Rajagopalaswamy temple at

Mannargudi Mannargudi () is a Municipality in Thiruvarur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Mannargudi Taluk, Mannargudi taluk. The town is located at a distance of from the district headquarters Thiruvarur, 12 ...

. The three stories are achieved with three concentric squares with a small passage in between with the top layer being closed by a filial.

Festivals and religious practices

The temple follows Vaikasana Agama. The temple priests perform the '' pooja'' (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, from the Brahmin varna. The temple rituals are performed six times a day: ''Ushathkalam'' at 7:30 a.m., ''Kalasanthi'' at 8:00 a.m., ''Uchikalam'' at 12:00 p.m., ''Sayarakshai'' at 5:00 p.m., ''Irandamkalam'' at 6:00 p.m. and ''Ardha Jamam'' at 7:30 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: ''alangaram'' (decoration), ''neivethanam'' (food offering) and ''deepa aradanai'' (waving of lamps) for both Vaikuntanathan and Vaikundavalli. During the last step of worship, religious instructions in the ''

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

'' (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 Vaikasi Brahmotsavam, celebrated during the

month of ''Vaikasi'' (May–June), and Vaikunta Ekadashi celebrated during the Tamil month of ''Margaḻi'' (December–January) are the two major festivals celebrated in the temple. Verses from ''Nalayira Divya Prabandham'' are recited by a group of temple priests amidst music with '' nadasvaram'' (pipe instrument) and ''tavil'' (percussion instrument).

Culture

This temple is revered in ''

'', the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon by Thirumangai Alvar in ten hymns. The temple is classified as a ''

Divya Desam Divya Desam (, ) or Vaishnava Divya Desams are the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that are mentioned in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnavism, Sri Vaishnava tradition. By comparison, the Paad ...

'', one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the Sri Vaishnava canon. The temple is one of the fourteen ''Divya Desams'' in

and is part of Vishnu Kanchi, the place where most of the Vishnu temples in Kanchipuram are located. The temple is also revered in the verses of Divyakavi Pillai Perumal Iyengar. The temple is declared as a heritage monument and administered by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

as a protected monument.

Gallery

File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram1.jpg, Entrance File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram2.jpg, Flagpost File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram3.jpg, Outer prakara (right) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram4.jpg, Outer prakara (left) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram5.jpg, Outer prakara (right) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram6.jpg, Outer prakara (left) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram7.jpg, Inner prakara (right) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram8.jpg, Inner prakara (left) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram10.jpg, Inner prakara (right) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram9.jpg, Inner prakara (left) File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram13.jpg, Vimana File:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram14.jpg, Vimana

References

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiru Parameswara Vinnagaram Divya Desams Hindu temples in Kanchipuram Archaeological monuments in Tamil Nadu Pallava architecture