Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane – Legends
Lord
Vishnu darshan to King Sumathi Rajan:
Vishnu devotee, king Sumathirajan by name had a desire
to have the darshan of Lord as the Sarathy of Arjuna in the Kurukshetra battle
field. He prayed to God for the darshan which Lord obliged as controlling
and managing the Rath of Partha-Arjuna. The king begged the Lord to stay
in the place in the same form. Perumal appears only with his conch
and not the discus. Lord absorbed the arrows shot by Bhishma aimed at
Arjuna and thus sustained injuries. The scars are visible even now. Parthasarathy
is the procession deity. As he grew prominent among the devotees, the
temple came to be known as Parthasarathy temple.
Parthasarathy:
As per Mahabharata, Vishnu, in his avatar as Krishna was acting as charioteer for Arjuna, the Pandava prince during the war with Kauravas. Krishna did not take any weapons during the war.
During the fight between Arjuna and Bhishma, Krishna was injured by the arrow from Bhishma. The
mark in the image in the temple is believed to follow the legend. These
scars are visible in Lord’s face even now. Based on this history, Perumal
is praised as Parthasarathy – driver of Partha-Arjuna. The Ghee component
in the Nivedhana is more to cure these wounds, it is said. No spices are
used in the Nivedhanas to Lord. Praying to Lord Parthasarathy,
people of unattractive complexion will understand the truth that beauty is not
a constant one but may or will vanish one day due to age, illness or any other
incidents in life.
Mother
Vedavalli married Lord Ranganatha here:
In days of yore, Sage Brugu performed penance here to
have Lord as his son-in-law. He found a female child in the Alli flower in
the Pushkarini here. He took the child, named her Vedavalli. When she
attained the marriageable age, Lord Ranganatha came to this place and married
her. This wedding festival is celebrated in the temple on the
12th day-Dwadasi in full moon fortnight in the month of
Masi-February-March. Vedavalli Thayar blesses the devotees from her own
separate shrine. She does not come out in procession outside the temple
but goes around the prakara only on Fridays and Uthiram star days.
People
worshipped Lord Vishnu here:
Rukmini, Thondaiman, Sumathirajan, Arjuna, Bhrigu Maharishi,
Markandeya, Madhuman Maharishi, Saptharoma, Saptha Rishis, Athrimaharishi,
Jajalimaharishi, Aniruddha, Pradyumna & Balarama worshipped Lord Vishnu
here.
Ramanuja’s
father conducted an yagna to get Ramanujar as his son:
Ramanuja’s father Aasoori Kesavacharyar conducted an
yagna here and got Ramanujar as his son.
Sage
Madhuman got darshan of Lord Rama here:
Madhuman, son of a rishi called Sashivadan, heard of the
story of Rama from Gargeya rishi, upon whose advice, he came to Brindaranya. Here
he performed penance for a darshan of Rama. The Lord obliged appearing with
Sita Devi and his brothers Bharata, Shatrugna and Lakshmana. Unlike the
Ranganatha in Srirangam, the Ranganatha in Tiruvallikeni does not face south,
but east. But Rama here faces south probably to reassure Vibhishana that he is
watching over him.
Saptharoma
Maharishi got darshan of Gajendra Varadhar here:
Gajendra Varadhar is said to have been worshipped
by Saptharoma Maharishi in accordance with the Vaikhanasa Agamam. The Moolavar
is worshipped as Sri Gajendra Varadaraja Swamy as he has given Moksha to
Gajendra after saving him from the jaws of a crocodile. The Lord in heaven
heard the appealing tone of his Bhakta Gajendra who was dragged into the waters
by the crocodile and he rushed to the spot seating on Garuda, the king of
birds, holding discuss in one hand and conch in another to save his Bhakta and
threw the discus at the crocodile and saved him from death.
Scars in
Lord’s face:
In olden days, though the idol of the Lord was cast
three times, the face of the Lord continues to have pimples. As the sculptor
was worried about it, Venkatakrishnar appeared in his dream and convinced him
that he (Krishna) has received injuries on the face by the arrows shot at him,
at the Mahabharata war, he appeared so to remind them. The idol of Lord
Parthasarathy is fine with all the other parts smooth except the face with its
marks. Not only that; the toe next to the big toe in the left leg is without
nail. The arrow shot by Bhishma to mark his surrender hit the nail of Krishna.
At the hip of Parthasarathy there is a scar, it is said, which was formed as
Yasodha tied a rope around the hip.
Sage
Atreya installed Lord Vishnu here:
Sage Atreya requested Vedavyasa to mention to him a
place fit for tapas. Vedavyasa directed Sage Atreya to go to Brindaranya, on
the banks of the Kairavani Theertham, where King Sumathi was doing tapas.
Vedavyasa also gave a Divya Mangala Vigraha (image) with a conch in his right
hand and Gnana Mudra in his left hand. Sage Atreya installed Lord here and
worshipped.
Alwars
praise on Lord Vishnu:
Among the 12 Alwars three of them namely Peyalvar,
Thirumazhisai Alwar and Thirumangai Alwar have sung on the different forms of
God in this temple.
Resting
place for Pilgrims:
It has been a resting place for pilgrims who had come
down from Thirupathi to have a bath in the sea on the days of Solar and Lunar
Eclipses and on other auspicious days it being in a direct line to Thirupathi,
Thiruthani and Trivellore and the route being free from swamps.
Sage
Athri got darshan of Lord Narasimha:
It is said that the Lord Narasimha Swamy appeared to
Athri Maharishi being pleased with his tapas and at his request took his Abode
in Brindaranya.
Saptha
Rishis worshipped Lord Vishnu here:
As per Hindu legend, Saptarishis, the seven sages worshipped five deities Panchaveeras,
namely, Venkata Krishnaswamy, Rukmini, Satyaki, Balarama, Pradyumna and
Aniruddha.
Allikeni:
The place is called Allikeni,
meaning a pond of lily as it is believed that historically the place was full
of lily ponds.
Lord
Vishnu sporting a mustache here:
The place is the only place where the presiding deity is
sported with a mustache.
Brindaranya:
The purana refers to the area as Brindaranya because of
the Thulasi (Brinda) plants here.
Notable
personalities association with this temple:
Thyagarajar, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Bharathiyar lived
here. Vivekananda also visited this temple.