| Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple | |
|---|---|
Bhaktavatsala Perumal Kovil | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Thiruvallur |
| Deity | Bhaktavatsala (Vishnu) |
| Location | |
| Location | Thirunindravur,Chennai |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location in Tamil Nadu | |
| Coordinates | 13°6′45″N80°1′34″E / 13.11250°N 80.02611°E /13.11250; 80.02611 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Dravidian architecture |
| Creator | Pallavas |
| Completed | 6th Century CE |
Sri Bhaktavatsala Perumal temple is aHindu temple, located atThirunindravur, a western suburb ofChennai,India. It is dedicated to theHindu deityVishnu. Constructed in theDravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in theNaalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medievalTamil canon of theAlvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Bhaktavatsala Perumal and his consortLakshmi as Ennai Petra Thayar.
The temple is believed to have been built by thePallavas of the late 8th century CE, with later contributions from theMedieval Cholas andVijayanagara kings. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all the shrines and two bodies of water. There is a four-tieredrajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, in the temple.
Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which theKrishna Janmasthami festival, celebrated during theTamil month ofAvani (August–September), being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.
According to the temple'sSthala Purana, Bhaktavatsala Perumal is believed to have appeared toKubera. According to another legend,Varuna, the god of the waters, had worshippedVishnu at this place. It is also said that Vishnu, returning from this place and accompanied byLakshmi, stayed here, which is why the town it is called Thirunindravur. It is also thatThirumangai Alvar did not sing anypasurams (hymns) here, and followed by Vishnu, followedThirukadalmallai and sang a hymn, praising the deity Bhaktavatsala Perumal. Lakshmi requested Perumal to appear before the Alvar, but when he did so, Thirumangai Alvar had already reached Thirukannamangai. The deity once again appeared in the dreams of the Alvar, who perceived viewing Bhaktavatsala in Tirukkannamangai.[1][2]
The temple was built during thePallava period of 9th century as seen from the various inscriptions in the temple. The earliest inscriptions of the temple is dated between 820 and 890 CE during the period of Nripatungavarman. There are inscriptions from the laterChola kings likeRajendra Chola II (1051–1063 CE),Virarajendra Chola (1063–1070 CE) andRajaraja Chola II (1146–1173 CE). The Pallava inscriptions mention this place as Ninravur and some of them quote it as Virudhurajabhayankar-chaturvertimangalam, a sub-division of Punarkottam.[3]
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The temple is estimated to be 1500 years old. The temple has a 5 tiergopuram at the entrance and two precincts. TheMoolavar(presiding deity) of the temple is Bakthavasala. TheMoolavar is at a standing position facing east. The height of theMoolavar is around 10 ft (3.0 m). TheUtsavar (procession deity) is called Patharaavi is made ofpanchaloha and is accompanied by two consorts as in mostVaishnavite temples. There is a separate shrine forEnnai Petra Thayar also called Sudhavalli, the consort of Bakthavasala. The temple also has separate shrines forAndal,Chakratalvar, theAlvars, andRamanuja. On the banks of a lake a few meters behind this temple is another temple forRama. In this temple there is a statue ofHanuman, lifting Rama andLakshmana on his shoulders. The temple is administered by theHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department ofTamil Nadu government. The Pedda Jeeyar ofTirupathi is the permanent trustee of the temple.[4]
The temple follows the traditions of theTenkalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and followsPancharatra. The temple priests perform thepuja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to theVaishnava community, of theBrahmin community. The temple rituals are performed six times a day:Ushathkalam at 7 a.m.,Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m.,Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m.,Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m.,Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m. andArdha Jamam at 8:30 p.m. Each ritual has three steps:alangaram (decoration),neivethanam (food offering) anddeepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Bhaktavatsala Perumal and Sudhavalli Thayar. During the last step of worship,nagaswaram (pipe instrument) andtavil (percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in theVedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of thetemple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.[5]
The major festival celebrated in the temple are Chitra Pournami during theTamil month ofChittirai (March - April), Tiruadyana Utsavam duringMargali (December - January) and Brahmotsavam during Panguni (March - April). The other festivals are Sri Jayanti Utsavam duringAavani,Navaratri,Vijayadasami,Deepavali, andMakara Sankranti.[3]
The temple is revered in theNaalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th century Sri Vaishnava canon, byThirumangai alvar. The Alvars have sung praise on the different forms of Bhaktavatsala Perumal. The temple is classified as aDivya Desam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book.[6] ManyAcharyas have also written songs on the various forms of God in this Temple.[1]
