Tiruvidanthai Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple

Tiruvidanthai is a southern suburb of Chennai in the Tamil Nadu state of India. It is located on East Coast Road, around 40 km from Chennai. The coastal village has an ancient and beautiful temple of Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple. This temple is considered the 62nd Divya Desam, located in the Tondai region.

(Read the temple's name as "Nitya" Kalyana Perumal - In Tamil Nadu, it is always spelled as "Nithya Kalyana", with an additional letter of "h").

Highlights:

Tirumangai Alwar has written 13 Pasurams about this temple in his verses.
Manavala Mamunigal has also sung hymns about this deity.
It is considered the 62nd Divya Desham temple. It is located in the Tondai region.
In the olden days, it was also called Nityakalyanapuri, Sripuri and Varaha Puri
There are 360 consorts for Vishnu on this site.
God - Aadi Varaha Perumal or Lakshmi Varaha Perumal or Gnanapiran; Utsava deity - Nithya Kalyana Perumal
Goddess - Komalavalli
Teerth (holy water) - Varaha Teertha, Kalyana Teertha and Ranganatha Teertha
Vimana - Kalyana Vimana
Sthala Vrukha (holy tree) - Punnai Tree (Botanical name - Calophyllum inophyllum)

Legend:

There was an Asura King named Bali, who was the son of Meghanatha. He helped three Rakshasa brothers, Mali, Maliavan and Sumali, to fight the Devas. Later, he repented for his act. He performed penance in Tiruvidanthai. Vishnu, in the form of Varaha, emerged out of the temple tank (Varaha Teertha) and gave salvation to Bali.

There is another legend related to this holy site. It happened after several years after the incident mentioned above. As told by Pulastya Rishi to the other Rishis, a sage called Kuni was performing penance on the banks of the river Saraswati. An Apsara was attending to his daily needs. After the sage attained salvation, the damsel started her penance to reach heaven. Narada Rishi reached out to her and explained that she could not go to heaven without marrying.

The Apsara addressed a group of Rishis, requesting one of them to marry her. Galva Rishi accepted her offer and married her. She gave birth to 360 baby girls. She left all the kids with her husband and left for heaven. Galva found it difficult to raise all the children. As per the advice from the other Rishis, he migrated to Tiruvidanthai.

In Tiruvidanthai, the Rishi worshiped Varaha Murti every day. One day, Vishnu disguised himself as a Brahmachari (bachelor) and came to Rishi. Upon finding the Brahmachari to be wise, the Rishi requested him to marry all his 360 daughters. The Brahmachari married each of the girls daily; thus, he married them in one year. At last, he appeared in his true form (Vishnu) and transformed all the girls into one girl. Thus, the Goddess is called Akilavalli Nachiar (the word "akila" refers to "all"). As Vishnu had married every day, he got this name, "Nitya Kalyana Perumal", which means "the Lord who gets married every day". The first daughter among the 360 daughters of Rishi is Komalavalli. Hence, the temple's Goddess, who is in a separate shrine, is named Komalavalli.

A lot of people who write or speak about this temple generally confuse things. The stone icon Aadi Varaha has been there since the beginning. He is not Nitya Kalyana Perumal. It was not Varaha who married 360 girls. The bronze image (processional/utsava murti) is called Nitya Kalyana Perumal. He is believed to have married 360 girls. The temple is nowadays named after the utsava murti. Similarly, Devi, seated on the left thigh of Varaha, is not Bhumi Devi, and he is not Bhu Varaha. He is Lakshmi Varaha, who has Lakshmi on his left thigh. Some people call this Devi as Akilavalli Nachiar, which is not correct. The Goddess who is found in a separate shrine is named Komalavalli. She is also called Akilavalli Nachiar. She cannot be considered the consort of the presiding deity, Aadi Varahar, but of the utsava deity Nithya Kalyana Perumal.

History:

The temple was praised in the Pasuram hymns by Tirumangai Alwar. Interestingly, he has written the Pasurams in Nayika Bhava (as sung by a woman). All the 13 Pasurams were written from the point of view of a bride's mother.

As it is widely believed that this Alwar belonged to the 7th or 8th century CE, the original temple was probably built by the Pallavas or other earlier-period Kings. However, the current temple belongs to the later Chola period, with later additions done by the Vijayanagaras. The structures and the images in the present temple can be dated only between the 11th century to 16th century CE.

The earliest historical record is from a stone inscription of Rajadiraja Chola (11th century CE). Some inscriptions belong to the other kings such as Athirajendra Chola, Kannara Deva Rashtrakuta, Jatavarman Vira Pandya (1254 CE), Maravarman Vira Pandya and Kulasekharadeva Pandya, Kulotunga Chola I and Vikrama Chola.

Aadi Varaha Perumal:

The presiding deity of the temple is Aadi Varaha Perumal. He is also called as Lakshmi Varaha or Gnanapiran. He is found in the east-facing sanctum.

The nine feet high murti is found in the form of Varaha (the boar Avatar of Vishnu). He is found in the standing posture with his left foot raised up to the knee and placed on the head of Adi Sesha. Sesha's consort is also found next to him. Varaha has four arms; his upper arms hold conch and discus; his lower arms hold Lakshmi, seated on his left thigh. (It should be noted that Varaha is found here along with Lakshmi and not with Bhoomi; it's usual to find Varaha with Bhoomi, and it's common for us to get confused.)

As Devi is found on the left side of the deity, this site is called Tiru Vidanthai (the term "idam" means "left" in Tamil. The nearby town, Mamallapuram, has Varaha with Devi on his right side. Hence, this site is also called Tiru Valaventhai (the term "valam" means "right side" in Tamil.)

The bronze images of Nitya Kalyana Perumal and his two consorts are also found in the same sanctum. He is found in the "Kalyana kolam" (in the form of the bridegroom). The temple is named after the utsav (processional) deity and not after the stone image of the presiding deity.

Koshta Images:

Not all the Vishnu temples have niche (Koshta) images on the outer walls of the sanctum. This is one of those very few ancient temples which has niche images. Ganesha, Satya, Atchuta, Aniruddha and Vaishnavi are the Koshta images. They are all beautiful later Chola period sculptures.

Komalavalli and Andal:

In the prakara, the sub-shrines of Komalavalli and Andal are found. Both face the east direction and each has its own vimana and mukha mandapa. Komalavalli is in the "kalyana kolam" (in the form of the bride). The corresponding utsav images of both the Goddesses are also found along with the stone idols. The front side mandapas have Vijayanagara period pillars with many sculptures.

Other Shrines:

The entrance of Ardha Mandapa has Dwarapalas. The Maha Mandapa has pillars with many sculptures, which probably belong to the Chola period.

A sub-shrine in this mandapa enshrines the stone and the corresponding metal idols of Alwars, Ramanuja, Vishvaksena, Manavala Mamunigal and Krishna.

A very beautiful Mukha Mandapa of the Vijayanagara period with many beautiful sculptures carved on the multiple rows of pillars.

Garuda is found outside the mukha mandapa, and he faces toward the sanctum.

Sthala Vruksha:

This temple has the Punnai tree as the Sthala Vruksha, which is rare. Generally, Shiva temples have this tree as the sthala vruksha. The holy tree is found near the shrine of Andal.

Ranganatha:

There is a separate shrine for Ranganatha. It is found near flagstaff. This shrine faces the southern direction. It enshrines Ranganatha in the reclining posture, who is found along with Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. It has its own prakara and the mukha mandapa. The sub-shrines of Ranganayaki and Alwars-Ramanuja are found in the mandapa.

Outer Areas:

A very tall flagstaff and the stone deepa stambha (lamp post) are found outside the inner entrance. On either side, two mandapas are found. There is an outer entrance too. Outside this entrance is a Vijayanagara period pillared mandapa facing the direction of the temple. Many beautiful sculptures are found on those pillars. Beyond another 150 meters, a sub-shrine of Hanuman is located. At a further 200 meters distance, the main temple tank, Kalyana Pushkarani, is located.

Varaha Pushkarani is located near the northern wall of the temple. Ranganatha Teertha is located northeast of the temple.

Happy travelling.