Vijayaraghava Perumal temple
Vijayaraghava Perumal temple is a Vishnu temple in Thiruputkuli, a village in Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated about 7 miles west of Kanchipuram and half a kilometre from Baluchetti Chattiram, which lies on the Chennai – Vellore highway. Constructed in Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is counted as one among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu. Vishnu is worshiped as Vijayaraghava Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Maragathavalli Thayar.
The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity and is believed to be initiated by the Pandyas, with later contributions at different times from Cholas and Thanjavur Nayaks. The temple has three inscriptions dating from the Chola period. The temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower) and enshrined within a granite wall. The complex contains all the shrines while the temple tank, is located to the west of the temple. The Brahmotsavam festival celebrated in the Tamil month of Masi (February – March), Theppotsavam (float festival) in Thai (January – February) are the major festivals celebrated in the temple.
Legend
Jatayu, the demigod bird of the Ramayana, was killed by the rakshasa king Ravana, while trying to save Sita during the abduction. Rama, the avatar of Vishnu and the hero of the Ramayana, who was in search of his wife Sita, are regarded to have arrived at this place. When Rama and Lakshmana went there in search of Sita, they find Jatayu mortally wounded in the forest.The eagle Jatayu narrated these events to Rama before breathing his last. The presiding deity, Vijayaraghava Perumal, is believed to have performed the last rites of Jatayu at this place. The water body where Jatayu fell is called Jatayu Tirtham.atayu belongs to the Pul (a separate family of eagle) family and was buried in a pit (Tamil: kuli), and hence this site is called Thiruputkuḻi. The same legend is also associated with Thirupullabhoothangudi Temple.
