Nachiyar Koil (Thirunaraiyur Nambi Temple) – Greatness
of Temple
Thirumangai Azhwar, formerly Neelan the chieftain spent
all his wealth in the service of Lord Perumal. As he was not a Vaishnava,
nobody recognized his bhakti and services. Sad Azhwar came to this place
and begged Perumal to acknowledge him as his devotee. Pleased with
Azhwar, Perumal placed the Vaishnava Mudras-symbols of discus and conch on both
his hands.
Mudradanam is a ceremony of accepting one in the
Vaishnava group by placing the symbols of Discuss and Conch in hands. As
Lord came to this place as an Acharya-teacher, He appears with two hands.
The discus and the conch are on the reverse with the front Mudradanam
style. As a token of his gratitude to Perumal, Thirumangai Azhwar sung
over 100 verses praising the Lord and named him Nambi.
Nambi in Tamil means a person of flawless traits. This
is the only Divyadesa where Perumal came as a Guru and offered Mudradanam to a
devotee.
The temple is famous by Mother Goddess as the Sri Rangam temple with Mother Sri
Andal. The sanctum sanctorum is so designed centering the glory of
Mother. She is a little ahead of Perumal in a standing form. Worshipping
Thayar-Mother in this form is considered to be very beneficial to the
devotees.
During processions too, Mother goes forward, Lord
following her. First abishek is dedicated to her only. Procession
Mother has a parrot in her hand and key bunch on hip confirming her
predominance over the Lord.
Sri Garuda Bhagwan graces the devotees from his shrine holding 9 snakes.
A six time puja (Aaru Kalam) with Modhaga- a pudding
variety- is offered to him as nivedhana. Generally only wooden or metal
idols are used for procession deities. Here stone deities are used for
the purpose. Four people bring the Lord out. This multiplies as 16,
32 finally. After the procession is over, He is taken back to the Sanctum
Sanctorum in the same order.
It is said that two Garudas use to come during the
midday puja to him to accept the nivedhana. After their disappearance in
course of time, a separate shrine was built for the two eagles. People
use to light the Moksha (salvation) Deepa in this shrine.
Chola king Kochenganan is a staunch Lord Shiva devotee
and occupies a place among the Nayanmars. He has built about 70 Shiva
temples in his life. He had a desire to see Lord Perumal in his abode
Vaikuntam. He prayed to Perumal. Lord Perumal granted darshan to
the king with two hands and ordered him to build a temple for him.
The king built a temple with Shiva temple design with
Yalis-a lion-like pillar, enabling the devotees to have darshan of Perumal from
all sides. This is a Mada-type temple. Thirumangai Aazhwar mentions
this temple as Mani Mada Koil. This is the first of the Panchakrishna
Perumal sthalas-places. Also, this is one of the 12 Mukti sthalas ensuring
salvation to devotees. The Vimana of the temples is like a Rajagopuram.