Vaikunta Vasa Perumal Temple, Nemili – Legends
Nelmeli:
Sage
Bhrigu and others performed a penance in Puri in Orissa to have a vision of
Lord Narayana. He appeared but not the way they wanted him in full form with
Chakra, Shanka and Gadayutham. The Lord directed them to go to Kanchipuram and
perform penance there, assuring them that he would appear before them. The
sages found too many holy places in Kanchipuram and wanted to know which was
the holiest among them.
They
sought the help of Brahma, who in turn prayed to the Lord and he appeared in
sitting posture before him in Nemili. He said when the merit of Nemili was
weighed against the merit of all other places the needle would tilt in Nemili's
favour by the weight of a grain of paddy. Hence the place came to be known as Nelmeli
or Nemili.
Lord's posture of holding a grain between his fingers:
According
to another legend a farmer in the village vowed before the Lord to give a major
share of the yield from his land, and he got a bumper yield that year. Paddy
obtained from the land was heaped like a hill in the threshing floor, but the
farmer changed his mind on seeing the big yield and tried to take it home.
And the
entire paddy stock on the threshing floor turned into stone pebbles and it became
a hill. The farmer, who realized his mistake, fell at the feet of the Lord, who
took a single paddy grain in his two fingers as his share and gave back the
entire stock to the farmer. That explains the Lord's posture of holding a grain
between his fingers.
Eri Kaatha Vaikunta Vasa Perumal:
The
Lord's sitting posture has another interesting story behind it. Once there were
unprecedented heavy rains in the area and the irrigation tank in the village
got filled up and was overflowing. The villagers, who feared that it might
breach any time appealed to the Lord who prevented the embankment from
breaching, with his back. It is remarkable that the Moolavar idol even today
sweats profusely and his garments, which become wet, have to be changed
frequently. Hence, the Moolavar Lord is also referred to as Eri Kaatha Vaikunta
Vasa Perumal.
Ramanuja visit to this temple:
It is
believed that Ramanuja visited this temple and stayed here on his way from
Sriperumbudur to Tirupathi. Hence, this is also said to be an Abhimana Sthalam.
Temple Restoration:
The
temple, which fell on bad times, was rediscovered by a devotee, in whose dreams
the Anjaneyar of Nallattur was said to have appeared and asked him to restore
the temple. A committee of devotees was formed which accomplished the task with
the help of the philanthropic minded public. The Mahasamprokshanam was
performed on June 2, 2002.
Reason for Lord Sitting Posture here:
Sage
Narada was feeling sorry that Swami Venkatachalapathy had been in standing
position for yugas, and requested him to be seated for a while. So, the Lord
gracefully considered Narada’s request and hence the sitting posture.