- Srikant K
The Veeraraghava
Perumal Temple
in Thiruvallur
The Veeraraghava Perumal temple is one of
the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Lord
Vishnu in India. This temple is very ancient
and is located in Panagal Street, Thiruvallur
district at a distance of about 30 miles from
Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. The
Veeraraghava Perumal temple can be reached
by taking a diversion from Thiruvallur Town,
which is on the Chennai Tirupati highway.
The Presiding Deity of this temple is
worshipped as ‘Veera Raghava Perumal’ and
his Consort Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped
as ‘Kanakavalli Thayar’. The Lord is popularly
known as ‘Vaidhya Veeraraghava Perumal’, as it
is believed that He cures the physical as well
as the mental ailments of His devotees!
The mythology of this temple has been
described in the Markandeya Purana. Once
there was a sage named Salihotra who
lived in Thiruvallur. The Sage was an ardent
devotee of Lord Vishnu. Every day Sage
Salihotra used to grind Rice for a living. The
Sage offered half of the Rice flour to the
Lord’s devotees and used to consume the
rest of it himself. Lord Vishnu decided to test
the devotion of Sage Salihotra. One day, the
Lord appeared before the Sage disguised
as a guest. The guest requested the Sage
to offer him food. Sage Salihotra welcomed
the guest and offered half of the Rice flour.
The guest consumed the Rice flour but was
still hungry. The guest requested the Sage to
offer more food. The Sage wholeheartedly
offered the remaining half portion of the
Rice flour which he kept for himself. Then,
the guest asked the Sage for a place to rest.
Sage Salihotra readily offered the guest his
hermitage. Lord Vishnu in the form of the
guest was pleased with the true and selfless
devotion of Sage Salihotra. On arriving at
the hermitage, the Lord revealed his true
form and blessed Sage Salihotra!The glory of Veeraraghava Perumal temple
has been sung by Vaishnavaite Azhwar saints
in the ‘’Divya Prabandha’’, the medieval
Tamil devotional work composed between
the 6th–9th centuries AD. This temple was
built by the Kings of the Pallava dynasty in
the 8th century A.D and was later patronized
by the Cholas dynasty and the Nayaks of
Thanjavur. The temple has a seven-tiered
Rajagopuram (main tower) and is enclosed
by a granite wall. There are shrines dedicated
to Lord Ganesha, Lord Ranganatha, Goddess
Gajalakshmi, Goddess Andal, Lord Lakshmi
Narasimha, Lord Hanuman, Nammalwar,One of the celebrated 108 Divya
Desams of Lord Vishnu is in Tamil
Nadu. This temple is more than
1000 years old and is very popular
among devotees. Read on...SPIRITUAL SOJOURN