Sri Vijayaraghava Perumal Temple, Thirupukuzhi



About the temple

The temple is among the 108 divyadesams of Sri Vaishnavas and comes under Tondai naatu divyadesams in Kanchipuram. This is the only divyadesam that is a bit far from other 14 divyadesams of Kanchipuram. The presiding deity is Sri Vijayaraghava perumal in a sitting posture and thayar in a seperate sannadhi is called Maragatavalli thayar.

Since Jatayu which belongs to the eagle family called Pul was buried in a pit called kuzhi in tamil here, the place got its name of Thiruppukuzhi


Specialty of the temple

1. Thayar sannadhi is to the left of the temple whereas thayar sannadhi is always to the right of the temple.

2. Lord Vijayaraghava perumal gives darshan with Sridevi and Bhoodevi in reverse positions in the main sanctum. Not able to bear the smell of the last rites performed to Jatayu, Sridevi thayar is said to have moved the left of the Lord and remained so. Sridevi thayar's head is slightly slanting towards the Lord.

3. Sri Rama is said to have performed the last rites of Jatayu- the bird that died while trying to save Sita from being kidnapped by Ravana, at this place and hence there is a sannadhi besides the Jatayu pushkarni for Jatayu. Sri Rama couldnt perform the last rites of his father Dasaratha and derived consolation by performing Jatayu's rites and giving moksham to the bird.

4. It is a popular temple for those women wanting to be blessed with children. Lentils are roasted and then soaked in water. This is tied to the cloth in the woman's lap and if it sprouts, the woman is said to be blessed with children soon. This process is done on Amavasya days in the thayar sannadhi.

5. The horse mount called Kuthirai Vahanam is very famous as it spins on an axis. When the carpenter who made it was asked to make one more for another temple, he refused and let the mount remain unique. As a mark of respect, the Lord on the horse mount visits the house of the carpenter during the yearly festival.

6. Sri Ramanujar learnt Vedanta from his guru Sri Yadavaprakasar in a mandapam in this temple.

How to reach

The temple is around 80 kms from Chennai on the Chennai- Bangalore highway. Just after Balu chetty chatiram, proceeding further on the highway the temple is just a few mtrs away on the left while coming from Chennai. There is also a board indicating the location of the temple. Click to enlarge


Temple tank and vimanam

The temple tank is called Jatayu theertham and the vimanam in known as Vijayakoti vimanam.

Temple timings

The temple is open in the mornings from 7 am to 12 noon and in the evenings from 4 pm to 7 pm.

Temples in proximity

2 comments:

Vinoth said...

Thanks for the info.This info helped me to reach the temple.Let me share my experience.I started from Chennai at 6.30 AM.I got Kacheepuram bus(All Bye pass). I reached Kancipuram by 7.30 AM. I waited there for around half- an hour.Then I got locus bus which goes to Nemili which started around 8.15 AM. I took ticket upto Baluchetti Chatiram.I reached Baaluchetti bus stop at 8.45 AM.From there it took 15 min walk to reach the Vijayaraghava perumal kovil.

It's good and calm place.I had good Dharsan and came back to chennai around 12'0 clock

saran said...

Very good information, Thank you.

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