Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

Halls in the temple with sculpted pillars

Indra, the king of celestial deities, after getting released from the curse of Goddess Saraswati, installed the silver and golden lizards who were the witness of the ordeal.[4] Brahma performed a yagna here, which was about to be washed away by the fast flowing river Vegavathi (Saraswathi devi in the form of river), known today as Palar River. The temple deity, Vishnu laid himself flat to stay the flow and the yagna was successfully performed. Vishnu emerged with brilliance of thousand Suns as Varadharajaswamy inside the athi tree and stayed here permanently until he was submerged in nearby tank since Lord came from yagna done by Bhrama( also due to fear of invasion by Sultanate).[4] As is the case with the association of South Indian temples with a sacred tree, the name of the temple, Attigiri is derived from Atti tree (fig), considered sacred to Vaishnavas and Hindus.[5] The present stone deity found inside the temple is from an nearby Narashima temple, the deity is called Devaraja Perumal whose worship is equated to Adhi AthiVaradharaja perumal i.e; two gods reside in one moolavar idol.

As per Hindu legend, Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, separated with his wife Saraswathi over a misunderstanding. He did an Aswameda worship (with a horse) seeking boons from Vishnu. Vishnu was pleased by the devotion and came out from under the earth as a boar and got Saraswathi unite with Brahma. As per another legend, Saraswathi cursed the king of celestial deities, Indra, to become an elephant and roam around the place. He was relived off the curse with the divine power of Vishnu, who appeared as the mount, Hastagiri. Hastagiri indicates a mount/hill in the form of elephant. As per another legend, the disciples of sage Gautama were cursed to become lizards. They resided in the temple and were relieved of the curse by the divine grace of Vishnu. There is a panel in the temple where the two lizards are depicted in the roof of the temple.[6]

Thirukkachi Nambigal (also known as Kanchi Purnar) was an ardent devotee of this temple. He used to bring flowers everyday from Poovirundhavalli, where he maintained a garden. He did Aalavatta Kaingariyam, waving to produce breeze with the help of hand fan. It is believed that Vardharaja used to converse with him, while he was doing that seva. Aalavatta Kaingariyam is a worship practise followed in modern times also.

Nambi also composed Devarajaashtakam (A Sanskrit poem of 8 verses) on the presiding deity. Sri Ramanujar, another great Vaishnavite, got answers to his six questions from Lord Varadharaja through Sri Thirukkachi Nambigal.

Halls in the temple with sculpted pillars

The temple has around 350 inscriptions from various dynasties like Chola, Pandya, Kandavarayas, Cheras, Kakatiya, Sambuvaraya, Hoysala and Vijayanagara indicating various donations to the temple and also the political situation of Kanchipuram.[7][8] Varadharaja Perumal Temple was renovated by the Cholas in 1053[9] 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 Tiruchirappalli district.[10] It was brought back with greater difficulty after the involvement of local preceptor who enlisted the services of general Todarmal.[10] 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.[10] At present the administration is carried out by Hindu Religious and Endowment of the Government of Tamil Nadu.[11]

The old inscriptions and records of the temple states that several leaders like Vyasatirtha and Satya-Vijaya Tirtha from the Dvaita school of Vedanta had envinced interest in this temple. An epigraph of the temple datable to 1511 CE records that the Dvaita saint and Kulaguru of Krishnadevaraya, Shri Vyasatirtha presented a village and serpant vehicle to Varadaraja Temple and instituted a festival in honour of Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya. Another record dated 1726 CE mentions that another Dvaita saint and Peetadhipathi of Uttaradi Matha by the name Satyavijaya Tirtha was honoured in the temple with some privileges.[12] In his work Sasana Tamil Kavi Saritham, Raghava Iyengar mentions that Parimelalhagar wrote his commentary of the Tirukkural around 1271–1272 CE as indicated in an inscription at the temple.[13]

There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (record 544 of 1919) indicating the gift of number of villages made by Achutaraya.[14] Vira Narasingaraya Saluva Nayaka who was directed by Achutaraya broke the royal order by giving more lands to Ekambaranathar temple than the Varadaraja Swamy temple against the instruction of an equal gift to either of the temples. Achutaraya on hearing this equally distributed the lands to both the temples.[14] There is an inscription from the 13th century from the Hoysalas, indicating a gift of a crown to the presiding deity. During the 17th century, the temple was under the attacks from Mughals headed by Aurangazeb. The deities of the temple were ported to Udayarpalayam in modern-day Tiruchirappalli district during 1688. It was only during 1710 that the situation was ripe for the deities to be returned. But the chieftain of Udayarpalayam opposed the move and only after the intervention of Paramahamsa Parivajakacharya Attan Jeer, the deities were returned. The event is commemorated as a festival in the temple.[6]

The Thathacharyas are the custodians[15] 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[16] 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[17] 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.[18] After Pillan, Tirumalai Srinivasacharya Thathacharya in the fifth generation of Thathacharyas was installed by Sri 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 Thathachariar 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. In the modern days 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.

Images in the temple

The temple covers an area of 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 three outer precincts (prakarams) namely Azhwar Prakaram, Madai Palli Prakaram and Thiru Malai Prakaram.[19] There are 32 shrines, 19 vimanams, 389 pillared halls (most having the lion type yali sculpture)[20] and sacred tanks some of which located outside the complex.[19][21] The temple tank is called Anantha Theertham.[22]

The main sanctum faces west and can be entered through a 130 feet tall, 7-tiered rajagopuram (main gateway tower).[4] The image of the presiding deity is designed in such a way that on the 15th day after Chitra Purnima, the rays of the Sun fall on the idol.[23] The hill, called Hastagiri, is 360 m (1,180 ft) long by 240 metres (790 ft).[24] The eastern gopuram is taller than the western gopuram, which is contrasting to large temples where the rajagopuram is the tallest one.[4] One of the most famous architectural pieces in the temple is the huge stone chain sculpted in a single stone.[25] There is a 100 pillared hall[26] which has sculptures depicting Ramayana and Mahabaratha. It is a masterpiece of Vijayanagara architecture.[19][25]

Hastagiri has murals of the late Vijayanagara empire on the ceiling.[19] Another significant features of the temple are beautifully carved lizards and gilded with gold, over the sanctum.[25][27] The vimana over the sanctum of Varadaraja Swami is called Punyakoti Vimanam and the one over Perundevi Thayar shrine is called Kalyana Koti Vimanam.[4]

Apart from the main stone idol, the temple has the wooden image of Varadarajaswamy made of Atthi or the fig tree and preserved under water in a secret chamber. It is brought out for worship once every 40 years.[28] The festivities last 48 days after which it is immersed in the water and stored for the next 40 years. It is believed that there is a heavy downpour after the idol is immersed to fill the tank. The presiding deity is a 10 ft (3.0 m) tall idol made of granite in standing posture, while Thayar is a 4 ft (1.2 m) image in sitting posture.[6] There is a shrine of Narasimha on the hillock.[19] The origin of the mask of Narasimha is mysterious and believed to possess inexplicable powers.[29]

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.[19] There are images of Azhwars and Ramanuja in the second precinct.[24]

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.[10] 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.[10]

The seven precincts are called Pradakshina Padha, Hastagiri Pradakshana, Madapalli Pragara, Alavandar Pragara and Azhwar Thiruveedhi. The Alavandar Pragara houses lot of shrines of the temple. The temple has two towers on the eastern and western sides, which are 180 ft (55 m) and 160 ft (49 m) tall respectively. There is a hundred pillared hall, which has ornate carvings, notable of which being a stone chain. The temple car is believed to have been donated by Krishnadeva Raya in 1517 CE. There are paintings in the temple commissioned during the 16th century during the rule of Vijayanagar kings.[6]

There is a shrine of Chakratazhwar on the eastern side of the temple tank. 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. There are two entrances to the shrine as the two images are considered to be separate. The shrine is believed to have been constructed during the time of Kulothunga III during 1191 CE by Ilavazhagan Kalingarayan of Nettur as seen from the inscriptions in the temple. The later additions are presumably made by Vijayanagar Empire during the 13th or early part of 14th century. The kings also added pillared columns in the leading hall sculpted with figures from Ramayana and various forms of Vishnu.[30]

Halls in the temple with sculpted pillars

Thirumangai Azhwar spent all his wealth and taxes towards the building of the temple and the king punished him for not paying the taxes and losing wealth of the kingdom. A divine voice informed the king in his dreams that he can pickup wealth from a nearby place and relieve Thirumangai Azhwar. Thirukachi Nambi was an ardent devotee of Varadrajar. He used to come a long way everyday to the temple to offer his worship. During his old age, he was privileged to converse with god. Ramanuja, the preceptor of Vaishanadvaita philosophy, was tricked by his master and was plotted to be killed. But by the grace of divinity, he was masked as a hunter and escape the event. He later came back to the temple to the making of the Vaishava philosophy.[6]

Vedanta Desika, the revered polymath next only to Ramanuja mentions the annual ten-day festival celebrated in May.[10] In one of the verses, he graces the deity as under.

"He is the single root-source for this entire universe,

beginning with space, and all other elements;

like the pupil in the eye of the Vedas."[31]

Vedanta Desika (of Thooppul) visits Varadaraja Perumal once a year during the month of Puratasi (September–October). This is the only Divya Desam, where Desikar enters the Sanctum of Lord Varadaraja. No other Azhvaar has this privilege.

The temple also finds mention in the Thirtha Prabandha, a travelogue with descriptions of pilgrim centers throughout India written by Sri Vadiraja Swamy.

Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, the celebrated composers of the 18th century created compositions on the festival.[10] Thirumangai Alvar - 4 Paasurams, Bhoothathalvar - 2 Paasurams and Peyalvar - 1 Paasuram.

Sri Alluri Venkatadri Swamigal composed 200 + keerthanams on Varadaraja Perumal.

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 the Ther Thiruvizha procession.

Lord Atthi Varadaraja Perumal, the original deity, made of the Atthi or the fig tree and stored in an underground chamber inside the temple tank is brought out for worship for 48 days, once every 40 years.[32][33] The festival was held from July 1 to Aug 17 in 2019 with much pomp and fanfare. The next Athi Varadar festival will be held in 2059.

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  Gopuram View
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  Theertham Tank
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  Temple Corridor
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  Close-up of a warhorse
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  Carving of cavalry on a pillar in the 100-pillar hall
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  Gopuram View At Night
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  Garuda Sevai of Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal during Annual vaikasi brahmothsavam.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Varadharaja Perumal Temple.

• Local government page
• Indian temples article
• Photos of Varadaraja temple, 1280x960
• About Kanchipuram Divya Desam
• News report on Brahmotsavam