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Sri.Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple,Padur
 An architectural marvel associated with the Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple, in Padur (pronounced as Paadhoor), near Ulundurpet, in Villupuram district, is that the sun's rays come and pay obeisance to the Lord for a week in the Tamil month of Aaavani (7-12). The rays remain so for about 12 minutes from about 5.30 a.m. says the priest of the temple, S Padmanabhan, with great feeling.The Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple has several legends associated with it. One is that in the distant past, the tahsildar of the place, C O J Rao, had a dream one night that an idol was buried in the village. The idol was dug out and worshipped. Since the main deity appeared from an anthill, he came to be known as Nagamalai Nayaganar and as he appeared in the dream of the tahsildar, he also came to be known as Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal.  Another interesting legend is that the utsavar was also found buried in the village near the pond. Since the idol had a copper plate stating that it was shifted from Madurai, people realised that somebody had tried to safeguard it during the invasion of the Muslims. The utsavar, called Prasanna Varadarajan or Prasanna Devarajan, is a beautiful panchaloha idol that stands in the company of Sridevi and Bhoodevi.  The Veera Anjaneyar idol also appeared in the dream of an old man and a tahsildar who had gone to nearby Ulunthandavar Koil and were resting there. When the idol was dug out, the villagers asked the tahsildar to keep the idol in the Padur temple and worship it there, says temple hereditary trustee V Sundaram Iyengar, a sprightly man at the grand old age of 92.  There is a Garuda pillar at the entrance to the temple. Once you enter the temple seven steps lead to the dwajasthambam and Garudan shrine. There is a Lakshmi Narasimhar idol before the sanctum sanctorum that is not worshipped as it is disfigured. Next to the Lakshmi Narasimhar idol is the holy find of Veera Anjaneyar. There is no plan to make a separate shrine for the Anjaneyar, as per his wish!  Majestic dwarapalakas guard the sanctum sanctorum where stands Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal with his consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi in nindra kolam. He is accompanied by the utsavar murthis - Prasanna Varadaraja Perumal with Sridevi and Bhoodevi; Navaneetha Kannan; Chakrathazhwar and Selvar. There is a separate shrine for Thayar to the left of the sanctum sanctorum. The beautiful idol is known by the Sanskrit name Padmavathy and the Tamil name, Alarmel Mangai.  To the right of the sanctum sanctorum is the shrine for Andal, Vedanta Desikar, Udayavar and the first Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt, Sri Adivansadakopa Yatindra. The temple's close links with the Ahobila Mutt can be gauged from the fact that the 36th Jeeyar, Sri Srinivasa Yatindra Mahadesikan's brindavanam is situated there. It is to be noted that this is the only temple after Srirangam where the brindavanam of Ramanujar is situated, to have a brindavanam of a guru. The various organisations that are associated with the temple and the devotees belonging to the village make sure that various festivals are celebrated through the year:  Chithirai: Chitrai 1, Laksha Deepam for Lord Anjaneya. There is also vennnai kappu alankaram and vadamalai alanakaram. Akshaya Thrithiyai is also celebrated in this month with garudaseva. Vaikasi: Vaikasi Visakam is marked by Garuda Seva. The temple boasts of a beautiful thanga Garudan. Adi: Thayar procession on Fridays and Andal thirukalyanam during Adi Pooram. Avani: Sri Jayanthi celebrations.  Purattasi: Brahmotsavam. The various vahanams used in the processions are: Hamsa vahanam, Chandra Prabhai, Hanumantha vahanam, Sesha Vahanam, thanga Garuda vahanam (the seva is performed by the prasanna Venkatesa Baktha Jana Sabha) and Gaja vahanam (conducted by the Vedanta Desikar Sabha). The grand finale is the kalyana utsavam (this was the 87th year it was conducted by the Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Kainkarya Sabha) and Pushpa Pallakku leading to rathotsavam. The temple chariot was renovated in 1989 and now a devotee has donated money to build a tin shed to guard the wooden structure, informs S Vijayaraghavan, son of the hereditary trustee. Aippasi: Pavithrotsavam and Deepavali are celebrated during this month. Karthigai: Thirukarthigai utsavam is celebrated during this month and Thirumangai Alwar sathumurai is also observed.  Margazhi: Dhanur masa poojas mark this month and Vaikunta Ekadasi is also celebrated grandly. Thai: Thayar is taken out in a procession around the temple on the Fridays of this month. There is also Kanu utsavam for Andal, and Ayana utsavam. Panguni: Thirukalyanam marks Panguni Uthiram in this month. Apart from this almost a festival-a-month, bhajans are held every Saturday. The mandapam in front of 36th Jeer of Ahobilamutt was constructed by various donors especially by Shri P.MuthuRaja of PMR Educational Trust, Mugappair, Chennai. Further, the kitchen, generally called as madaipalli was constructed by Shri G.R.. Krishnan, Ashok Nagar, Chennai, a philanthropist. It is voluntary organisations that conduct most festivals and carry out most of the work in the temple. The Prasanna Venkatesa Kainkarya Sabha built a separate shrine for the Jeeyar's brindavanam in the temple. The sabha also built a house for the priest in place of the old tiled-roof house that his family was living in. So committed are the members that the house was built within 90 days at a nominal cost. The Srinivasa Seva Samithy, headed by A K Iyengar, is actively involved with the temple that is nearly 930 years old and is an example of Chola architecture. |
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Latest page update: made by Sarnath
, Dec 17 2007, 3:52 AM EST
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