Srivilliputhur
Andal Temple – The Temple
The temple has two divisions; the one of Andal located on the Southwest and the second one of Vatapatrasayi
(Vishnu) on the Northeast direction. A granite wall surrounds the temple,
enclosing all its shrines, the garden where Andal was found and two of its
three bodies of water. The fish emblem of the Pandya
dynasty can be seen in the ceiling and Mandapams. The Sukravara
Kuradu bears the statues of Thirumalai Naicker, his brother Chokkappa Naicker
and their wives.
The tall towers, massive car, huge tank, sculpted
pillars, ancient Ramayana frescoes and modern wall paintings depicting the
Lords of 108
Divyadesams, numerous inscriptions dating back to the rule of Pandya
kings, fine rectangular hall with a wooden roof and above all its unique
Thiruppavai Vimanam speak volumes of their rich architectural heritage.
Rajagopuram
The Rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower,
192 ft (59 m) tall. The tower is originally believed to have been
built by Periyalwar with the prize money he obtained from religious debates in
the court of Vallaba Pandya in Madurai.
It has eleven stages. The Raja Gopuram is one of the tallest in Tamilnadu. The
temple tower is 2nd only to Srirangam Temple Rajagopuram (236 ft)
among the Divya
Desams. It is also the Emblem of Tamil Nadu Government. The great
poet Kamban has praises it in lofty terms and the poem finds a place in the
Tower.
Vadabadrasayee
Shrine:
The Temple is also called as Vada Perum
Koil and Periya Perumal Koil. This is the Divyadesam Temple.
The temple of Lord Vadabadrasayee is a two storied Maadakoil, with a large
prakaram full of beautiful paintings and sculptures. A shrine for Lord Lakshmi
Narasimha is on the ground floor. The idol is large and brightly painted. There
are Shrines for 12 Alwars and Dasavatharam of Vishnu can be found in the ground
floor.
The sanctum in the second level approached through a
flight of steps houses the image of Vatapatrasayi facing east in a reclining
posture and his consorts, Lakshmi (Sridevi) and Bhoodevi,
are shown attending to him at his feet. Sage Bhrigu stands near his head and
sage Markandeya is near his feet. The banyan tree
whose leaf is known as Vatapatram, on which Vishnu is said to rest in the form
of a baby during deluge, is at his head, behind Bhrigu.
The Lord’s image is a large and very colourful stucco
image (made of brick and mortar), hence daily Thirumanjanam (sacred
bath ) is not performed. Lord Vadabadrasayee was the Lord whom Periyalwar and
Andal worshipped with such fervour. Images of Panchamurtis – Thumburu,
Narada, Sanathkumara,
Kinnara, Sun, Mithuna and Moon are present around the deity as well as
representations of Villi and Puttan are seen at his feet.
The sanctum has three doorways from which the presiding
deity can be seen. Also, on the first floor is a large rectangular hall with
ornate woodwork on the walls. It is called Gopala Vilasam and it was built 200 years ago using wood
panels from the temple car which was damaged. The intricate carvings on the
wood panels depict scenes from the Ramayana and other puranas and scenes
from the life of Andal.
It is here that the Araiyar Sevai is performed during the Pagal Pathu Utsavam. Vimana over the
sanctum is called as Samsana Vimanam. Utsava Idols of Chakrathalvar, Kannan and
Allal Thavirtha Piran Utsavars are found in the Artha Mandapam.
Andal
Shrine:
Andal Temple is situated on the southwest side of the
Temple Complex. 20 Pandha Mandapam is found in the entrance of Andal temple. Kalyana
Mandapam is situated on the left side after Pandha Mandapam. There are shrines
for Sri Rama and Srinivasa Perumal immediately after the Kalyana Mandapam. Dhwaja
Sthambam can be found next. There is Mandapam called, Madhavi Mandapam after
the Dhwaja Sthambam. This Mandapam houses lot of beautiful paintings depicting
Lord Vishnu.
Next to it is the Mani Mandapam and then the Artha
Mandapam and then the sanctum follows. The Sanctum houses the image of Andal
and Ranga Mannar. In Srirangam, Lord Ranganathar holds a conch and
discus in his hands, In Srivilliputhur, he holds
a Dhandam-royal staff held by kings and is called as Ranga Mannar. A green
parrot rest on Andal’s shoulder. This parrot is special in that it is
freshly made by hand everyday using leaves and herbs.
One finds Lord Garuda, the charioteer of Lord Vishnu,
alongside the main deities. In all other temples, one finds Garuda standing
opposite the main deity. It is believed that Garuda, brought Lord Ranganatha of
Srirangam to Srivilliputhur faster than expected and hence he was accorded the
special status here. This posture of Ranga Mannar, Andal and Garuda together
depicts the wedding of Andal with Ranga Mannar.
Panchaloka idols of Ranga Mannar, Andal and Garuda are
situated in the mandapam in front of the sanctum. Andal's shrine is
crowned with the gold plated Pranavakriti Vimanam with stucco work depicting
themes from each of the 30 Tiruppavai hymns. The walls around the shrine has
paintings of the life of Andal. The second hall from the entrance towards the
sanctum, the Kalyana Mandapa, houses huge life-size sculptures of Mohini, Rama, Rati, Kamadeva and
many other deities.
Tiruppora
Mandapam:
Tiruppora Mandapam is situated in the Nandavanam
between Andal Shrine and Vadabadrasayee Shrine. It was here that Andal was
found as a small child beneath Tulsi plant by Periyalwar. It is also
believed that this mandapam was built by Periyalwar and the idol installed
after his return from Srirangam where he handed over Andal in marriage to Ranga
Mannar.
Nandavanam:
The flower gardens (Nandavanam) in between these two
areas are said to have been maintained by Periyalwar.
Andal
Idol:
There is no separate shrine for Andal in the Temple
premises. A separate Statue is kept for Sri Andal in the Nandavanam, where she
was born, which is found on the North East direction of Sri Andal Temple.
Periyalwar
Shrine:
Periyalwar Shrine is found on the North side of the temple and he is faced towards the south direction.
Vijayanagar
Sculptures:
The temple houses some rare Vijayanagara sculptures
similar to the ones present in Soundararajaperumal Temple, Thadikombu, Krishnapuram Venkatachalapathi Temple, Alagar Koyil and Jalakandeswarar Temple, Vellore. The
composite columns of Virabhadra holding sword and horn are found
be additions of the Vijayanagara kings during the early 1500s. Similar columns
of Virabhadra are found in Thiruvattaru Aadhikesava Perumal Temple, Madurai Meenakshi Temple, Tirunelveli Nellaiappar Temple, Kasi Viswanathar Temple at Tenkasi, Krishnapuram Venkatachalapathi Temple, Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram,
Thadikombu Soundararaja Perumal Temple, Srivaikundam Vaikuntanathan Perumal Temple,
Avudaiyar Koil, Vaishnava Nambi
and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiyar Temple at Thirukkurungudi.
Paintings
The Vijayanagar and Nayak kings commissioned paintings
on the walls of the shrine of temple, some of which are still present.
Temple
Chariot:
The 9-tiered temple chariot is said to be the biggest in
Tamil Nadu. The temple car was originally very heavy (40m tall and 650
tonnes) and it took days to take it back to the original position. Before 2000,
the practise of drawing the temple car during the yearly festival was
suspended. With the efforts of Vanamamalai Jeer, the head of a monastic
institution, the temple car was modified with hydraulic wheels to ease the
movement.
Theertham:
Theertham associated with this Temple is Thirumukkulam.