At a distance of 9 km from Kumbakonam Railway Station , Nachiyar Kovil or Thirunarayur Nambi Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, located at Thirunaraiyur village of Kumbakonam .
The shrines in this temples are
Naraiyur Nambi
Vanjulavalli thayar (same sannadhi as the lord)
Kal Garuda
Yoga Narasimha
Hanuman
Sri Ram
Chakrapani
Lord Brahma is in standing posture in this temple .
The temple tank is known as Mani mukthi nadhi theertham while the vimanam is named after the lord as “Srinivasa Vimaanam”
This temple is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Lord Vishnu , who is worshipped as Srinivasa Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Nachiyar .
This temple is the place where god Vishnu is believed to have initiated Pancha Samskara (religious initiation) to Thirumangai Azhwar.
Pancha Samaskaaram – The identity of a real Vaishnavite:
1 . 12 Thiru Namam on the body (fore head, arms, chest, on the back)
2 . To include the name of an Acharya in one’s name
3 . To have the ‘chakra’ seal inscribed on the left hand
4 . To first serve the Lord with food every day
5 . To understand and utter the Thiru Mandhiram
This is the only Divyadesam where Perumal came as a Guru and offered Mudrasthanam to a devotee.
According to the legend , sage Medhavi wanted Goddess to be born as his daughter and undertook penance on the banks of the Manimuthar River. Pleased with his penance, Goddess was born under the Vanjula tree and the Rishi brought her up as Vanjulavalli. Lord Mahavishnu came to Thirunaraiyur in five forms as Sangarshanan , Pradyumnan , Anirudhan , Purushothaman and Vaasudevan. Perumal expressed his desire to the sage to marry his daughter. The sage accepted Lord’s wish on one condition that his daughter would have all powers in all matters. Perumal agreed to the condition and had the hands of Mother. Named after Mother-Nachiar, the place came to be known as Nachiar Kovil.
Only in 3 divyadesham temples the Thayar is given priority over the Lord
1. Nachiyar koil Vanjulavalli Thayar Thirunarayoor
2. Srivilliputhur Andal
3. Thiruvellarai Shenbagavalli thayar
Presiding deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu known as Naraiyur Nambi and Goddess Lakshmi as Nachiyar Thayar (Vanjulavalli Thayar). The sanctum also houses the images of Brahma, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Sankarshana and a set of gods, who are depicted attending the wedding. The festive idols of Srinivasa, Vanjulavalli (Lakshmi) and Bhudevi are housed in the same shrine.
Kal Garuda is the most prominent feature of the temple. As per local legend, the sculptor who sculpted the idol of Garuda got frustrated as the bird flew away each time, a new image was prepared. In frustration, he threw a stone at Garuda, who got injured and decided to stay in the temple as Kal Garuda. The image of Kal Garuda is made of saligrama and is housed in the shrine outside the main sanctum .
The significance of Kal Garudan is during the festival they start with 4 members as the weight increases likewise 8 ,16 ,32, 64 ,128 members r needed to lift the Garudan during procession similarly while returning back to temple 128 , 64 , 32 ,16 , 8, 4 members as the weight decreases . It is said one can see the sweat drops on the lord’s face during this procession . ( Kal Garuda Sevai )
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