Venkatachalapathy Temple (Chakrathazhwar Temple),
Karisulndamangalam, Thirunelveli
Venkatachalapathy
Temple is dedicated to Hindu God Vishnu located at Karisulndamangalam Village
near Cheranmahadevi in Thirunelveli District of Tamilnadu. It is also called as
Chakrathazhwar Temple since the presiding deity is Chakrathazhwar. Processional
Deity is only Venkatachalapathy. The Temple is located at about 1km North of
Pathamadai Temple on the Southern banks of Thamarai Barani. The Temple is
believed to be 1000 years old.
Legends
Romasa Rishi penance on Lord Vishnu:
Romasa
Rishi undertook penance here at this place and performed pooja invoking the
blessings of Lord Venkatachalapathy.
Chakrathazhwar as Presiding Deity:
This
deity possesses the characters of Varaha and Narasimha avathars. It is believed
that Lord Vishnu has given Chakkarathalwar the “right” to provide the devotees
long life as well as sound health in a sound body.
Miracle of disappearing Abisheka Oil:
The Moolasthana
deity in this temple has oil abishekam for ten days every month. But within
hours of performing the abishekam no trace of oil remains over the idol. So the
moolavar here is considered ‘live’, highly omniscient and omnipotent.
Panagam as neivedhyam:
It is
believed that during Pradhosha Kalam, if a person offers “Panagam” as neivedhyam
and worships the lord with archana for consecutive Pradhosha days, all his
wishes would be fulfilled.
Shukra Parihara Sthalam:
Sudharsana
Moorthy is also known as Chakkarathzhwar is the Athipathy of Sukkiran. So this
temple is considered to be a ‘Sukkiran Parihara Sthalam’.
Padipayasam:
Childless
couples desiring progeny, come to this temple, perform abisheka aradhanai, and
offer payasam as ‘neivedhyam’; then distribute the same to village children on
the steps of the ‘padithurai’. This is an ancient and strong belief.
The
Temple
The
special feature of this temple is the Main Deity. Normally in the temples of
Lord Venkatachalapathy, the presiding / principal deity and also the Urchavar
are one and the same Venkatachalapathy. Here in this temple in
Karisulndamangalam, the Urchavar is Venkatachalapathy where as the main deity
is Chakrathazhwar. While the Utsava processional deity is Venkatachalapathy with
Sri and Bhoo Devi and the temple is known by that name. Chakkarathzhwar is seen
with 16 hands. Behind him is Lord Yoga Narasimha with four hands.
This
puja paddathi is evidenced in the structure of Kodimaram and the Bali Peedam in
the southern corner of the prakaram. The custom of entering the sanctum
sanctorum (Moolasthanam) only after removal of the upper garments, also indicates
the above mentioned fact - that Kerala Nampoothiri pooja paddathi was adopted
and followed in principle and practice.
There
was a gift of 3anai achchu in 1202AD by a merchant residing in 'Ulaguyya Vanda
Pandya Perum Theru' ( one of the streets here at that time) for providing
Kitchen requisites. A renovation of the Vimana took place in 1297 AD during the
rule of Kulasekara I with the repairs being undertaken by Lata Pittusi
Rahuttar. Inscriptions also register that in the 30th year of his rule,
the temple was rebuilt on the banks of Mauthika Vahini (now Thamarai Barani).
A
certain ‘Then Thiruvengada Manikkam’ was appointed as the Musician of the
temple with a stipulation that she and her two brothers should be the
hereditary servants of the temple. Before 2000 AD the compound wall of the
temple was in a dilapidated state, cracked and weak. During the floods of 1993,
river water entered the temple, flooding the inside of the temple up to a
height of two feet, leaving dirt and water all over the temple floor. After the
flood receded, the temple was cleaned, made presentable and neat and readied
for daily poojas.
During
that period, there was no approach road for autos or taxis to go up to the
temple. The devotees had to stop their vehicle near Kanaga Sabapathi temple,
get down and then walk a distance of ½ KM; a small canal needed to be crossed;
only then was the temple reached. For performing “Garuda Sevai” the help of
many persons were required. There was no facility for the bhaktas (pilgrims) to
answer nature’s call. Because of these hardships the number of visitors (bhaktas)
gradually reduced.
In order
to remove the hardships and provide ample facilities, it was decided that a Kumbabishekam
should be performed; a Kumbabishekam committee , namely “Venkateswara Baktha
Sabha” was formed and renovation work carried out. The ‘Vimana’ of the
temple was renovated, a solid new compound wall built. The ‘garuda vahanam’ was
provided with a new separate room. There was also concretization and
strengthening of the garuda vaahana path, that is, the path around the temple. This
improvement helped in reducing to two or three, the number of persons necessary
for the task of garuda Sevai.
Thanks
to these renovations, at present almost 75 ‘garuda Sevas’ are being performed
in a year. For the convenience of devotees a toilet and a bath room have been
constructed just outside the compound wall, on the southern side. With the help
of munificent land owners who have provided lands, an approach road has been
laid from near the Kanaga Sabapathy Temple to Venkatachalapathy temple.
Besides, a bridge has been erected over the canal. Attempts are being made to
conduct ‘Ashtabandhana Maha Kumbabishekam’ of Venkatachalapathy temple in 2012.
Temple
Opening Time
The
Temple will remain open from 6 am – 11 am and 4 pm – 5.30 pm.
Festivals
On
Garuda Sevai days, the temple opens from 6 AM to 6 PM without any break and
there are 65 permanent Garuda Sevas in a year.
Contact
Venkatachalapathy
Temple (Chakrathazhwar Temple),
Karisulndamangalam,
Thirunelveli District
Mobile: +91 75985 78254 / 94880 62925 / 75981 88716 /
75981 78716
Connectivity
Karisulndamangalam
is located at about 3 Kms from Pattamadai, 5 Kms from Cheranmahadevi, 12 Kms
from Veeravanallur, 30 Kms from Thirunelveli, 191 Kms from Madurai, 75 Kms from
Thoothukudi and 150 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram. From Tirunelveli, buses every
15minutes to Pathamadai (Ambai / Papanasam) bound buses. Take an auto from
Pathamadai to reach Karisulntha Mangalam( 2kms). Auto will cost Rs. 80 (to and
fro). Bus 36D runs between Tirunelveli and Karisulntha Mangalam. Nearest
Railway Station is located at Cheranmahadevi and Veeravanallur. Nearest Airport
is located at Madurai, Thoothukudi and Thiruvananthapuram.
References