Madhava Perumal temple

Madhava Perumal temple
Madhava Perumal temple Location in Tamil Nadu
Geography
Coordinates	13°2′16″N 80°16′17″E / 13.03778°N 80.27139°ECoordinates: 13°2′16″N 80°16′17″E / 13.03778°N 80.27139°E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Chennai
Location	Mylapore
Culture
Primary deity	Madhava Perumal (Vishnu)
Consort	Amirtagadavalli (Lakshmi)
Architecture
Architectural styles	Dravidian architecture

Madhava Perumal Temple is dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu located in Mylapore, Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Madhava Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Amirtagadavalli. The temple is believed to be the birthplace of Peyazhwar, one of the first three of the twelve azhwar saints of the 6th-9th century AD.

The temple is open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m and has six daily rituals at various times of the day. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Legend

Image of the gateway tower, the gopuram

As per Hindu legend, during the churning of the Ocean of milk, Vishnu instructed his consort Lakshmi to reach the hermitage of Sage Bhrigu. The sage was doing penance to attain a girl child and accepted the girl Lakshmi. the presiding deity, Madhava Perumal is believed to have married goddess Amrithavalli, the daughter of sage Bhrigu and thus attained the name Kalyana Perumal.^[1]

The temple is believed to be the birthplace of Peyazhwar, one of the first three of the twelve azhwar saints of the 6th-9th century AD. The legendary Azhwar was believed to have come to earth from the 60 ft (18 m) well called Manikairavam inside the temple premises.^[2]

The temple

The temple is built in Dravidian architecture and has two precincts. It is located in Mylapore, a suburb in Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The temple has a rectangular plan surrounded by 10 ft (3.0 m) high walls, pierced by a 5-tier gopuram, the gateway tower. The presiding deity is housed in the sanctum and is an image made of granite. The deity is seen in seated posture with images of Sridevi and Bhoomidevi on either sides. There is a small shrine for Varaha, an avatar of Vishnu, located behind the central shrine.^[1] The shrine of Garuda facing Madhava Perumal, the eagle mount(vahana) of Vishnu, is located axial to the central shrine. The central shrine is approached through a worship hall and a narrow Ardha mandapam. The flagpost is located behind the shrine of Garuda, axial to the central shrine and the gateway tower. There are images of Azhwars in the worship hall on both sides and the shrine of Amrithagadewari is located on the western side of the temple in the second precinct.

Worship practices and festivals

The temple is open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed four times a day: Ushathkalam at 8 a.m., Kalasanthi at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 7:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Kudamudakoothan and his consort Amirtagadavalli. During the worship, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.

During the Magam day of the Tamil month Maasi, the festival deity of Madha Perumal is taken in a float in temple tank.^[3] During the subsequent days, the festival deities of Peyazhwar is taken in the float. The festival is one of the major festivals of the temple, which was not celebrated for a decade before 2011. It is believed that all the rivers converge in the tank during the auspicious day.^[2] The annual festival, Brahmostavam, of the temple is celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March - April).^[4]

The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

References

1. Biswas, Subhash C. (2014). India the Land of Gods. PartridgeIndia. pp. 277–8. ISBN 9781482836554.
2. Lalithasai (27 February 2011). "Float festival at Madhava Perumal Temple". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
3. "Thiruther at Madhava Perumal temple today". The Hindu. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
4. S. Muthiah, ed. (2008). Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India, Volume 1. Palaniappa Brothers. p. 112. ISBN 9788183794688.

External links