Thiruthetriyambalam

Thiruthetriyambalam or Palli Konda Perumal Temple is located in Tirunangur, a village in the outskirts of Sirkaḻi in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. 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 Palli Konda Perumal.

It is one among the eleven Divya Desams of Tirunangur Tirupathis and is closely associated with Tirumangai Alvar. It is also the only temple in the Nangur Divya Desams to have revered by a poet-saint other than Tirumangai Alvar. As per Hindu legend, the temple tank for dug by Arjuna from the age of Mahabharata. Krishna appeared as Parthasarathy to Arjuna here and initiated his education, leading to the name of the temple.

The temple is open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and has four daily rituals at various times of the day. The Tirumangai Alvar Mangalasasana Utsavam celebrated annually during the Tamil month of Thai is the major festival of the temple during which the festival images of the eleven Tirunangur Tirupathis are brought on mount designed like Garuda, called Garuda Vahana, to Tirunangur.

Legend

The legend of all the eleven temples of Tirunangur are closely associated with each other. As per legend, the Hindu god Shiva started dancing in fury at this place after the death of his consort Sati due to the yajna (sacrifice) of Daksha. Each time his lock of hair touched the ground, there were eleven other forms of Shiva who appeared. The celestial deities were worried that if the dance continues, it would result in decimation of entire creations. They prayed to Vishnu for help, who appeared at this place. On seeing Vishnu, Shiva’s anger was reduced and he requested Vishnu to appear in eleven forms like he did. On his request, Vishnu appeared in eleven different forms at Tirunangur. The eleven places where Vishnu appeared are believed to be where the eleven temples in Tirunangur are located. It is believed that several sages like Agastya, Bharadvaja, Gautama and the deity Varuna performed penance at this place.

It is believed that the presiding deity of Srirangam arrived here on the request of Shiva. It is referred as Ambalam, which in Malayalam means temple.  Anandha, the external bliss is believed to have worshiped the presiding deity.

The Temple

The temple complex has a single prakaram (outer courtyard) and a separate shrine for Thayar, the consort. It is located close to Tirunangur, a small village, 8 km east of Sirkali en route to Thiruvenkadu. The temple has two shrines enclosed in a compound wall. The presiding deity, Pallikonda Perumal is sported in Bhujanga sayanam (recumbent posture) with four arms facing east. The presiding deity is called by various names like Senganmal, Ranganathar and Sreelakshmirangar. The shrine of the consort, Bhujangavalli, is in a shrine parallel to the sanctum, facing east.