Devanathaswamy temple, Thiruvanthipuram
Devanatha Hemabhujavalli Temple (also called Thiruvanthipuram Koyil) is a Hindu temple in Thiruvanthipuram, a village in the outskirts of Cuddalore in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, dedicated to the god Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Devanatha and Lakshmi as Hemabhujavalli. Though the presiding deity is Devanatha and Hemabhujavalli, the temple is known for Hayagriva, the ninth avatara of Vishnu in the Dashavatara of Vishnu and a god of knowledge. The temple is the only historical temple in South India to have a shrine of Hayagriva on hilltop.
The temple in its current form is believed to have been built during the Medieval Cholas, with later expansion from Pandyas, Hoysala Empire and Vijayanagara Empire. The temple has fifty inscriptions from Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE), Vikrama Chola (1118–1135 CE), Rajaraja Chola III (1216–1256 CE), Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan (1251–1268 CE), Vikrama Pandya, Vira Pandya III, Vijayanagara king Achyuta Deva Raya (1529–1542 CE) and Koperunjinga and many other rulers.
A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and bodies of water. The rajagopuram, the temple’s gateway tower has five tiers and raises to a height of 60 ft (18 m).
Devanathaswamy is believed to have appeared to Adishesha (the serpent-mount of Vishnu), the sage Markandeya, and the Hindu god Indra. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the chariot festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March–April), is the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Etymology
The place was originally believed to have housed a Shiva temple. A Chola ruler, who was a Saiva fanatic, wanted to demolish the Vishnu temple in his province. Seeing the images of Vinayagar and Dakshinamurthy, which are otherwise found in Shiva temples, he was taken aback. It is believed Vishnu himself appeared before the king to acknowledge the oneness of almighty. Following the legend, the image of the presiding deity holds a lotus, the symbol of Brahma and has a third eye like Shiva, denoting the oneness. The region was called Tiruvaheendrapuram to honour Adisesha, who was originally called Vaheendran. Vaheendra is believed to have propitiated Indra, the king of celestial deities. Tiruvaheendrapuram became Thiruvanthipuram with the passage of time.
Legend
The temple finds mention in Brahmanda Purana, Naradiya Purana and Skanda Purana. According to the accounts, a group of sages wanted to view a theophany of Vishnu and went all the way to Tirupparkadal, the Ocean of Milk. They could not view Vishnu there and went all the way to Vaikuntha, the heavenly abode of Vishnu. The guardians there stated that they could meet Vishnu only in a place close to the seashore north of Kumbakonam, south of Tirupathi and west of Kanchipuram. When the sages reached there, they found sage Markandeya and his daughter Bhudevi were doing penance. They could view Mahavishnu in resplendent form with his weapons Sudarshana Chakra (discus), Panchajanya (conch) and Kaumodaki gracing his arms.
As per another legend, Vishnu handed the job of obtaining the pure water of lake Vraja Tirtha located in the netherworld to Garuda, the eagle vahana. Garuda reached the nether world and secretively obtained the water from the lake, without the knowledge of the sage, who established the lake. The sage learned of it and cursed the water to turn impure. Garuda then pleaded with the sage indicating the orders of Vishnu. The elongated transaction delayed the proceedings and Vishnu turned to his other prime devotee Adhishesha the serpent who constructed a well by whipping the earth with his tail. The water from this well is used daily for the preparation of the temple prasad. The legend says, adding salt, pepper and jaggery to this well cures the devotee of any ailments and is religiously followed by people with skin ailments. Garuda was highly aggrieved and felt for his guilt. Vishnu appeased him saying that he would establish a river, which is believed to be the Kedilam river. A ceremonial bath is celebrated annually to commemorate the event.
History
The Epigraphical Department has found more than 50 inscriptions in the temple belonging to the Medieval Chola period. The inscriptions indicate grants to the temple from Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120), Vikrama Chola (1118–1135), Rajaraja Chola III (1216–1256), Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan (1251–1268), Vikrama Pandya, Vira Pandya III, Vijayanagara king Achyuta Deva Raya (1529–1542 CE) and Koperunjinga. The Chola country was under siege during the rule of Rajaraja Chola III and he was imprisoned by Koperunjinga, a Pallava scion. Vira Narasimha II (1220-1234) came to the rescue of the Chola and ultimately killed the Ceylon king Parakramabahu. A temple tower was erected during the reign of Koperunjinga, while the procedures of worship were accorded similar to other temples during the reign of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan. The descendants of Ramanuja were given special provisions for worship during the period of Vijayanara Empire. In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
