Famous Temples in India

SRI VAIDHYA VEERARAGHAVA SWAMY TEMPLE

Tiruvallur, Tamilnadu, India

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God

Veeraraghava Perumal is Incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Evvul Kathan and Vaidya Veeraraghavan, this posture is called by the Sanskrit term Bhujangashayana. Lord here facing East and reclining form is 15 feet long. Lord is in a reclining form on a five feet peeta. His right hand blesses the sage Salihotra and left hand in Gnana mudra preaches to Brahma. The left hand of the Supreme Lord is bent at the elbow and stretched upwards towards Brahma who emanates from his navel. It is very interesting to note that in this temple, the Supreme Lord wears only checked clothes as Salihotra Maharishi had originally offered this to him as a bark garment. Salihotra, Brahmas are along with main deity. The idol here was not chiseled by any sculpture but was found of its own (swayambhu).

Goddess

Mother is called as Kanakavalli / Vasumathi / Lakshmi Devi. She is consort of the Lord Veeraraghava. Her shrine is located parallel to the sanctum and facing East direction.

Interesting Facts

  • There is a large temple tank on the south side of the temple, covering approximately seven acres.
  • The temple is one of the 108 Sri Vaishnavaite Thiruthalams and is also the 21st Thiruthalam in Thondainadu, and is praised in verses by two of the twelve Alvars. This is the most important Divya Desam in the Thondai Mandalam region.

Best Season To Visit

The best season to visit this temple is Winter season. The best months to visit are September to February.

Weather

Highest - April to June (38°C during day and 26°C during night)Average - May (37 °C during the day and 25 °C during night)Lowest - October to February (30 °C during day and 21°C during night)Monsoon season - August to September

Dress Code

  • For men the dress code is Shirt & Trouser, Dhoti or Pyjamas with upper cloth.
  • For women the preferred dress code is saree or half-saree with blouse or chudidhar with pyjama and upper cloth.
  • These rules are applicable for foreigners also. Shorts, mini-skirts, middies, sleeveless tops, low-waist jeans and short-length T-shirts are not allowed.
  • Pilgrims/visitors will not be allowed inside the temple if dress code is not followed.

Do's & Dont's

  • Do bathe and wear clean clothes before you enter the temple.
  • Do respect ancient customs and co-piligrims while at temple.
  • Smo​king is strictly prohibited inside the temple premises.

transport connections

Name Distance Contact Number
Thiruvallur Bus Stand
1 KM 1800-419-427
Tiruvallur Railway station
3 KM 9445061324
Chennai International Airport
39 KM 044-2256 0551

Architecture

The Perumal here is Veeraraghava Perumal and he is capable of curing diseases so he is called "Vaithiya Veeraraghavan". Temple faces towards East and was built in Dravidian style of architecture. The temple consits 5-tier Raja gopuram. The Vimana tower above the sanctum sanctorum is called Vijayakoti Vimana. There is a Dhwaja Stambham standing majestically infront of the temple. An old mandapam with tall monolithic granite pillars, studded with carvings of various deities like Lord Krishna and Hanuman and immediately in front, a newer mandapam leading to the tall five-tiered gopuram. The Royal Emblem of the imperial house of Vijayanagar - that of a boar with a sword in front and the Sun and Moon above is clearly sculpted on one of the walls in this temple.

Inscriptions - There are inscriptions dating back to the latter half of the 9th century A.D. Pallava dynasty reign here. There are inscriptions indicating gift of lands to the temple during the reign of Ramadeva Maharaya (1620-30) of the Vijayanagara Kingdom, Narasimha Deva, Vira Venkatapathi Rayadeva Maharayar and Sri Venkatarayadeva Mahakavi, Kulothunga Deva and Rajendra-I of the great and mighty Chola dynasty. There are also inscriptions referring to the gift of land for conducting various festivals by other kings in the region like Maduranthaka Deva, Sadashiva Maharaya (1542–1570), Rama Deva Raya (1617–1632) and Venkata-III (1632-42) of the Vijayanagara dynasty. Apart from these in Sanskrit, a few Tamil inscriptions have been discovered in various parts of this temple which testify to its antiquity. The earliest of these was found etched on a step leading to the tank and belongs to the 9th century A.D in Pallava period. It records an endowment for burning a sacred lamp and for feeding a person who cleaned the temple. Several inscriptions of the Vijayanagara era and later times too have also been found here. One of these, found on the inner eastern wall of the Vahana Mandapa, dated 1630 A.D.

Religious Significance

Legend - The past time of this temple is intimately associated with Salihotra Muni. Salihotra Muni was a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of God head and lived in Thiruvathari Ashrama (Badrinath). There is an interesting past time story to be narrated about how he got his name."Sali" means an instrument which is used to measure the weight (or) quantity (volume) of rice."Hotra" means sacrifice. Begetting and raising a devotee as son/daughter is considered the highest form of blessing among followers of the Vedic system. Salihotra Muni’s parents performed an elaborate fire sacrifice to beget a devotee son. They started an elaborate fire sacrifice which would take a whole year, using 28,000 sali measurements of rice. As the result of that elaborate fire sacrifice, a child was born and was named Salihotra.

Salihotra Muni became instrumental for the appearance of the Lord in the Veeraraghava Perumal temple. The legend associated with this temple says, that during a new moon day in the month of Thai, Salihotra Muni reached Thiruvallur, where he met a congregation of sages in the forest. They were engaged in taking bath in the sacred pond called "Hrith-Thapa-Nasini" Pushkarani and he was also advised to take bath before performing his daily rituals. The bath changed the mind of Salihotra Muni and he decided to stay at the bank of that holy pond to perform penance without food or water for one year. The next year, on the same Pushya Amavasya day, he completed his penance and took a holy dip in the Hrith-Thapa-Nasini Pushkarani and observed his morning prayers. As he was fasting for one year without food and drink, on that day he collected some paddy and prepared a food offering for the lord, using rice flour.

At this juncture, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana took the form of an old brahmana and came to where Salihotra Muni was waiting to offer a share of the prasadam to a guest. He immediately offered the food to the brahmana, who immediately honoured the offering by eating it. Salihotra Muni understood that the old brahmana was very hungry and immediately offered his share of prasadam as well to the brahmana. The brahmana was satisfied and left the place. Another one year of penance continued without any food and drink. Again on the day of Pushya Amavasya,Salihotra Muni took his bath in the holy pond and after his prayers, prepared food as he had done the previous year. He offered the bhoga to Sri Narayana and was waiting for a guest. This time also the Lord Narayana took the form of an old Brahmana and was welcomed by Salihotra Muni to his hermitage.

After honouring prasadam, the old brahmana expressed to Salihotra Muni, in Tamil, “Uraivatharku ivvul evvul?” (In this place, which is the spot to sleep?) To this, the sage replied, “ivvul”, meaning “here”. The old man was pleased at this offer and stretched his body in the hermitage, putting his head towards South. Immediately the old Brahmana transformed himself into the form of Anathashayana and Adishesha appeared with his thousand hoods to serve as couch and canopy. On the request of Salihotra Muni, the lord promised that he would permanently stay there and to bless and relieve all those who pray to him after taking bath in the holy pond, of their material miseries. Hence he is called Sri Vaidhya Veeraraghava Perumal. The place was also called "Thiru Evvul", which in course of time changed to Thiruvallur. In the puranas this city is referred as "Veksharanya Kshetra". Markandeya Purana provides many details regarding this temple. The original names of this place was "Punyavrata Kshetra" and "Veeksharanya Kshetra".

History

Lord Vishnu married Mother Lakshmi here : Vishnu appeared in this place to marry Lakshmi, who was born as the daughter of Dilipa, the king of Dharmasenapura.

Lord Vishnu taught Brahma here : Vishnu revealed the Vedas to Brahmma here.

Vijayakoti Vimaanam : Vishnu vanquished the demons Madhu-Kaidapas and protected devotees here. The Vijayakoti Vimaanam is named after this victory over demons.

Lord Shiva got relieved of Brahmahatti Dosham here: Legend also has it that Shiva was relieved of the Brahmahatti Dosham of killing Daksha upon visiting this shrine. According to the temple tradition, Vedanta Desika, the illustrious Sri Vaishnava preceptor and philosopher, has composed a Sanskrit poem named "Kim Grihesha Stuti" about this sacred place.

This temple was built in 8th century by Pallavas. The Vijayanagara kings made major contributions. The recent renovation was done in 2015 -2016.

Temple Timings

Day Timings
All Days 05:00 AM - 12:00 PM 04:00 PM - 08:00 PM

Darshanam Details

Darshanam Price Estimated Time Entrance From
Viswaroopam 0.00
Sevarthi Darshan 0.00 1.30 Hours
Sevarthi Darshan 0.00 3 Hours

Sevas

Mansa Seva (Bedtime Seva)
All Days
20:30 - 21:00
30 Mins

Pooja

Thirumal Vadai Satrumarai
All Days
20:15 - 21:00
30 Mins
Uchikala (Noon) Pooja
All Days
11:00 - 11:15
30 Mins

Tours










Airports

Airport Name Distance
Shamshabad 40 KM
Lorem Ipsum 12 KM

Railway Stations

Railway Station Name Distance
Secunderabad 10 KM
Nampally 12 KM
Begumpet 6 KM
Lingampally 20 KM

Bus Stations

Bus Station Name Distance
MGBS 35 KM
CBS 28 KM
kukatpally 20 KM
Lingampally 30 KM
Uppal 35 KM

Private Transports

Transport Name Distance Contact Number
Private Transport 8 KM 9546858757
Private Transport1 8 KM 9546858757
Private Transport1 8 KM 9546858757
Private Transport1 8 KM 9546858757
Private Transport1 8 KM 9546858757

Local Transports

Transport Name Distance Contact Number
Local Transport 5 KM 9546858757
Local Transport1 5 KM 9546858757
Local Transport1 5 KM 9546858757
Local Transport1 5 KM 9546858757
Local Transport1 5 KM 9546858757

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SRI VAIDHYA VEERARAGHAVA SWAMY TEMPLE

Tiruvallur, Tamilnadu, India

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