Veera Raghava Swami Temple (Thiruevvul), Thiruvallur –
Religious Importance
Vishnu
as Veera Raghavar is the presiding deity of the Veera Raghavar temple. He is
also called Vaidya Veera Raghavar, in view of his ailment curing abilities. In
this temple people submit small metal sheets with a specific human organ
engraved on them as a request to god to cure the illness or problems with those
organs. It is believed that those suffering from incurable diseases are cured
if they worship the presiding deity. Devotees come here for marriage, progeny,
and for relief from hardships.
The water
in the tank is considered more sacred than that of river Ganga. A dip in the
tank is believed to relieve the devotee from sins he committed in thought as
well as action. Abishekam, the sacred ablution to the presiding deity is done
only with sandalwood oil. The temple is considered the Vaishnavite temple
equivalent of healing abilities of the presiding deity to that of the
Vaitheeswaran, the presiding deity of the Saivite Vaitheeswaran Kovil.
Thousands
of devotees take a holy dip during new moon days and also pour molasses into
the temple tank. The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Thirumangai
alvar and Thirumalisai Alvar. The Azhwar has sung praise, imagining himself as a
lady and Veeraraghava as his lover. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in
the book. Many Acharyas have also written songs on the various forms of
Bhaktavatsala in this Temple.