Sri:
SINGAPERUMAL KOIL near
Chennai
Singaperumal Koil, which is neither a village nor a city but a delightful
mix of both, is about 45 km to the south of Chennai.Though there is no direct
bus from the city, route no. 60c plying from Tambaram to Vadakal takes one to
the place. It has a famous
Narasimha temple which is
very ancient.This is small temple on a hillock about 20 kms from Tambaram
-Chennai. It is about 5 kms from SRM college.An early morning drive from
Chennai to Singaperumal koil is really worth it. The breeze is cool and the
traffic minimum.
It is a lovely temple housing a fairly large (about 8 ft) idol of
Pataladri
Narasimha.
Narasimha one of the
incarnations of Vishnu who is half-man and half-lion. The name Singaperumal
translates to Lion-god.
The idol is a part of a large boulder (almost a hillock). Hence if one
desires to circumbulate the idol (pradakshina), one needs to go round the
boulder. This is called Giri-valam in Tamil. Giri is hill/mountain and Valam
is going round.
The idol here is unique in that while performing Arathi, the priests
remove the "Namam" of
Narasimhaswamy to reveal a
third eye.
Pataladri means Red faced - here
Narasimha is an Ugra roopa.
Legend has it that he manisfested here at the request of Sage Jabali, after
the destruction of Hiranyakashyapu. Since
Narasimha here is in a
position to destroy evil, it is believed that if one sees the third eye of
this god, all misery of life is removed.
One can go around the hillock thice, seven times, nine times or twelve
times. On the Prakara are idols of Venkateshwara and Lakshmi-
Narasimha
swami. There is also a wish-fulfilling tree, the Mandapa and the Bali peetha.
It is a lovely sight to watch birds and animals eat the prasada offered at the
bali peetha for this very purpose.
The prasad is sold in a small stall right inside the temple premises
- donot miss the Dosas and chilli powder there, they are great.
Another temple that is also there is The Devanathaswamy Temple is
situated about 3 km West of Singaperumal Koil. Devanathaswamy resides in a
village named Chettipunniyam, which boasts of four or five streets. The
presiding deity, Devanathaswamy, sits facing East. Though a Sannidhi for
Varadaraja Perumal has been in this temple for the last 350 years, it was only
in 1848, thanks to the efforts of Sirasdar Rao Sahib Rangachar that the idol
of Devanathaswamy of Tiruvendipuram was installed in this temple. The year was
1848; the day Friday; month Vaigasi; date 22; and the star Makam. From that
day, daily pooja is offered to this deity. Devanathaswamy did not come alone
but along with
Hayagriva. These facts are
corroborated by the Government Gazette records of the South Arcot Government,
of the same year The idols of Thayar, Sridevi, Boodevi and Andal were
installed after this. The idols of Sri
Rama,
Sita,
Lakshmana and
Hanuman were
brought to
Vandalur in
Chennai, in the year 1868, on
Oct 5, by Mudumbai Ramaswamy Iyengar, from the Tanjore Palace. When Ramaswamy
Iyengar migrated to Bangalore, he had all these Gods installed in the
Devanathaswamy Temple, since Chettipunniyam, was his native village. There is
a separate sanctum sanctorum for Sri
Rama in this temple. It has to be
mentioned here that the first Mysore Dewan Veeravalli Rangachar (1831-1883)
also hailed from this village.
The villagers conduct the 'Thiruparvettai' festival in a grand manner, on
a Sunday in the month of 'Thai' (Jan 15 - Feb 15), every year. The temple
trust organises a number of utsavs like
Sri
jayanthi, Special thai velli poojas, Sri
Vaikunta Ekadasi, Sri
Vedanta Desikan
Sathumurai, Vaigasi magam and Deepa (Lights) utsavam.
The devotees also conduct many utsavs - adhyayana utsav, Vijaya dasami,
Adi Pooram, Panguni Uthiram, Udayavar Saathumurai and Sri Ramanavami. Another
famous celebration was Sri Devanathaswamy's centenary (100 years in this
temple), which was celebrated for 10 days, in grand style.
After a very long time, in 1993, the Ashtabandhana Maha Samprokshanam was
performed on May 17.The devotees of the village say, as far as their knowledge
goes, no Samprokshanam had been done in the last 100 years.This famous temple
is under the HR & CE board. An officer has been appointed to manage the
affairs of the temple. A five-member committee oversees the functioning of the
temple. Sri C V Palani is the temple trustee, at present. The
Hayagriva in
the temple, it is believed, bestows upon the devotees, education, wealth and
progress in all walks of life. The temple is open between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.
and between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. everyday. The temple owns about 55 acres of
agricultural land and a big grove, in the village.
The town is also the current residence of the Acharyas of
Srivaishnavism, Sriman
Kovil Kandaadai Vaadhoola Desika Annavilappan Kumaara Raamanujacharya Swami,
the current
Mudaliandan
Adiyen
Sampath