ThiruppErnagar (kOvilaDi) divya dEsam
Legend: Once a king by name ubharisaravasu (also known as upamanyu) was meditating on
Lord Vishnu in a Purasai Forest. Sage DhurvAsar came by that side but the king did not notice
his arrival because he was in deep thought about the Lord. DhurvAsar got angry, and as is his
wont, cursed him to lose all his merits and strength earned so far. The king immediately came to
know about it and begged DhurvAsar to pardon him. DhurvAsar asked the king to go to
Palasavana kshetram near KAvEri River and perform annadhAnam (food charity) to 100.000
people. However, the population of that place was only a few hundred, so he thought of
distributing food to whoever came to that village. Every day he provided food for a few
thousand. One early morning an old man came to the king and told him that he was very hungry.
The king performed his pUjAs and served food to the old man. The old man ate the complete
food prepared for thousands of people and still felt hungry. The king requested the old man to
wait for some time to cook again and asked the old man whether he required any specific item in
the mean time. The old man wanted "appam" in a pot. While consuming the "appam" the old
man transformed into Lord Vishnu, removed the king’s curse given by DhurvAsar, and lay down
there with the pot full of "appam". Hence the Lord here was called "appakkuDaththAn" (one
who wanted appam in a pot—i.e., kuDam). It became a tradition that appam is offered in this
temple to the Lord. This is the only divya dEsam (in all of 108) where appam is offered to the
Lord every night. He is seen holding a pot (containing appam) in his right hand.
It is believed that sage MArkaNDEya got his longevity of life from Lord Vishnu at this place.
Accordingly, the tank in this kshetram is called Mruthyu vinAsini Theertham (death-defying pond).
It is also believed that nammAzhwAr recited his last pAsuram before leaving his mortal coil
here. This temple is considered the forerunner to the temple at Srirangam and accordingly known
as kOvilaDi (the primeval shrine).
Festival idol
Temple entrance
Location & Reputation: This temple is located between the rivers KAvEri and KoLLiDam (just
like Srirangam) east of Srirangam. It is in close proximity to other shrines such as anbil and
Lalgudi. From Tiruchchirappalli it is 15 miles. The temple is built on a hill called Indragiri and is
believed to be more than 1000 years old. Inscriptions from the Pallava, SOzha, Pandya, and
Vijayanagara dynasty periods can be seen in the temple structures. It goes by other names such
as Indragiri, and palasavanam (purasangADu). It is one of the pancharanga kshEtrams known as
appAlarangam. The others are Adirangam (Srirangapatnam in KarnATakA), madyarangam
(Srirangam), caturtarangam (SArangapANi temple in Kumbakonam), and pancharangam (tiru
indaLUr near MayilADutuRai). The popular name is kOvilaDi.
Deities: The presiding deity goes by the names appakkuDattAn or appAla ranganAthar in a
recumbent posture (bhujanga sayanam) facing west. The goddess goes by the names kamalavalli
nAcciyAr and indirA dEvi, having a shrine with an east-facing sanctum. There are also other
shrines for Ganesha, Lakshminarayana, Venugopalan, Ramanuja, and nammAzhwAr. The
temple pond goes by the name indra thIrththam and the crown structure is known as indra
vimAnam. The sacred tree (sthala vruksham) is called purasa maram or vivla maram.
Festivals: The brahmOtsavam is celebrated in panguni (Mar-Apr). Other prominent festival is
Vaikuntha EkAdasi. The dialing worship hours are 8:30 AM to 12 noon and 4:30 PM to 8:00
PM.
MangaLAsAsanam: This shrine has been sung by four AzhwArs: PeriyAzhwAr,
ThirumangaiyAzhwAr. nammAzhwAr, and ThirumazhisaiyAzhwAr in a total of 33 pAsurams.
Let us examine a couple of them here. nammAzhwAr describes the Lord of kOvilaDi in the
following pAsuram:
(nammAzhwAr tiruvAymozhi 10-8-2; NDP 3745)
PErEyuRaiginRa pirAn inRu vandu
pErEnenRu ennenjcu niRaiyap pugundAn
kArEzh kaDalEzh malaiyEzhula guNDum
ArA vayiRRAnai aDangap piDittEnE
Meaning: The Lord who dwells in ThiruppErnagar, declaring “I shall never leave you”,
occupied my mind and heart today. I caught hold and retained Him who has more in his
abdomen after swallowing all the seven seas, and mountains. nammAzhwAr emphasizes the
word “aDangap piDiththEnE” (captured Him all inclusive).
In the following pAsuram by PeriyAzhwAr, he considers himself as the mother of baby Krishna
and asks the crow to bring a stick for Krishna to play with.
Kongum kuDandaiyum kOTTiyUrum pErum
engum tirindhu viLaiyADum en magan
Sangam piDikkum taDakkaikkut takka nal
angam uDaiyadOr kOl koNDu vA
arakku vazhittadOr kOl koNDu vA (periyAzhwAr 173 NDP)
Meaning: “My son pervades and stays in all the places like Kumbakonam, KOTTiyUr, and
ThiruppErnagar. He holds the conch in his strong hand. Bring a stick that is suitable for him to
hold in the same hand. Let it be a polished one with a coating of shellac”.
Sethuraman Subramanian
[email protected]