Srivilliputhur Andal temple - Part 1, legend and history
Did you know that the Srivilliputhur Andal temple, also known as the Vatapathrashayanar temple of Vishnu, to this day observes a unique ritual in which the garland of the deity of Srivilliputhur is first offered to Andal's image in the adjoining shrine?
Did you know that an interactive walk-through narrative of the Sri Andal temple in Srivalliputhur by combining multiple types of rich media, interactive 3D exploration and story telling, was created by Microsoft Research India in 2005 as their first venture?
The Srivilliputhur Andal temple, also known as the Vatapathrashayanar temple of Vishnu in Srivilliputhur town in Tamil Nadu, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu is a temple of highly religious, architectural and historical significance. It is best known for the worship of one of south India's best-loved goddesses Andal or Godai, as the consort of the main deity. It is a Divya desham (Divine place), 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. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of 4, 000 hymns of the Alvar saints from the 7th to 9th centuries AD. It is believed to be the birthplace of two of the Alvars, namely Periyalvar and his foster daughter Andal, after whom the temple is reknowned.
Vatapatrasayi (Vishnu), meaning Lord of the Banyan Leaf, also called Rangamannar, as the presiding deity of the temple, is believed to have appeared to Andal, Periyalvar and sages Markandeya and Bhrigu. Its siginificance also as the Andal temple is due to the fact that Anadal as a baby was found under a Tulsi plant ( Ocimum tenuiflorum) in the garden inside the temple by Periyalvar (originally called Vishnuchittar) who raised her, in an atmosphere of love and devotion, as his own daughter calling her Kodai or Godai ( ‘the gift of Earth’) and taught her in all holy scriptures and in divine worship of the Lord Krishna. Kodai grew up as a devotee of Krishna, avatar of Vishnu. It is said that she and her father used to string a garland for the Lord every day from the flowers in their garden, but before offering it to the Lord she used to secretly wear the garland and watch her reflection in the surface of a water tank in the garden. Her father, Periyalvar, who later found it, was highly upset and remonstrated her. Then Lord Vishnu is supposed to have appeared in his dream and directed him to dedicate only the garland worn by Andal. The girl, Kothai was thus named Andal meaning. She was also referred as Chudikodutha Sudarkodi (lady who gave her garland to Vishnu). Kotai who was intesenly devoted to Vishnu, then became Lord's bride at the great temple of Srirangam, with the title Andal. Her father Periyalvar had himself taken Andal to the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, and Andal was thus reunited with Vishnu as his bride.
According to a folk legend, Srivilliputhur was under the rule of Queen Malli. The queen had two sons called Villi and Kandan. While the two were hunting in a forest, a tiger killed Kandan. Unaware of this, Villi searched for his brother, got tired and fell asleep. In his dream, divinity narrated to him what happened to his brother. By divine orders, Villi founded a city. The city is originally named after its founder, Villi forming the word Sri-Villi-Puthur. Srivilliputtur is known by other names such as Varaha kshetram, Thenpuduvai, Vadeswarapuram, Vadamahadamapuram, Shenbagaranya kshetram, Vikrama chola chaturvedhi mangalam, and Sridhanvipuri.
In another legend it is said that the sages Bhrigu and Markandeya did long penance in their hermitage buit in a dense forest named Champaka. A demon named Kalanerai was troubling the sages and they prayed to Vishnu to save them from the demon. Vishnu was pleased by their devotion and appeared in the place to slay the demon. He is believed to have taken the abode in the forest reclining on Adisesha, his serpent bed, on the leaf of a banyan tree. The place thus came to be known as Vadaveshwarapuram.
Historically, the town Srivalliputhur with the temple of Vatapatrasayi is known from the 8th century, eventhough epigraphic records attribute it to the 10th century AD. But it is also known that Alvar saint, Nammalvar and his daughrer Andal also lived here and prayed to the Vatapatrasayi Vishnu; both father and daughter composed many hymns to the Lord; particularly the hymns rendered by Andal are known as Thiruppavai and Nachiyar Tirumoli., which are sung even to this day in all Srivaishnava Temples, particuarly during the winter festival season of Margaḻi. Masam (Month of December-January). The temple has inscriptions from Chola, Pandya and Nayak rulers, spanning across various centuries from the 10th to 16th centuries.
During the reign of Thirumalai Nayaka (1623–1659), the ruler of Madurai Nayaka Dynasty who had stayed here for political reasons developed this city into a very popular religous centre. He not only built beautifl temples but also installed choultaries, temple tanks, paintings and golden towers inside the temple. The sculptures in the hall leading to the shrine of Andal were built by him. The story goes that Tirumala Nayaka ate his breakfast only after the pujas were performed at Srivilliputhur Aandal Temple. To get the information that the pujas were completed, the king built mandapas about every five kilometres on the route from Madurai to Srivalliputhur and installed loud bells in them. Each mandap also had a small kitchen. When there was a message to be sent a series of bells rang
The Vijayanagar and Nayak kings commissioned paintings on the walls of the shrine of temple, some of which are still present. From 1751 to 1756 CE, Srivilliputhur came under the rule of Nerkattumseval palayakkarar Puli thevar and was a maravarpalayam. Later the Fort of Srivilliputtur was ruled by Periyasami Thevar. Then it fell into the hands of Mohammed Yousoof Khan. Until 1850, Sri Andal temple was under the care of the king of Trivancore. The temple's gateway tower, 192 ft (59 m) tall is believed to have been built by Madurai Nayakas , and that this is now the official symbol of the Government of Tamil Nadu (Sri Vatapatrasayi Temple Tower). The state's High Court has its own unique seal, which has an image in yellow of this gopuram or tower.
Note: To be continued as: "Srivilliputhur Andal temple - Part 2 , Architecture and worship practices
- Narasipur Char
