Serene Singaperumal Kovil

The Pallavas who ruled a part of the southern India left behind great legacies for generations to cherish and admire. They were the masters of the rock-cut temples, Mammallapuram being one such masterpiece. The Pallavas have built a lot of temples primarily in and around the Kancheepuram region. One such stupendous temple, that stands amidst the daily bustling activities of the city, is the Singaperumal Kovil. The main deity is Lord Narashimar (Singaperumal). The historical name of this temple is “Paadalaadhri” which means Reddish (Paadalam) Hill (Aadhri). Lord Narashimar is in his fierce form - Ugra Narashimar. The fierceness of the Lord is attributed to the name of the temple (Paadalam - Reddishness).

The historical name of the temple and the surrounding place was Paadalaadhirpuram later got changed as Singaperumal Kovil. It is a rock cut temple in which the Pallavas were experts at building.Accompanying the main deity Lord Narashima is His consort Ahobilavalli Thaayaar also accompanied by Aandaal. The temple also has separate shrines for Lakshmi Narashimar, Ramanujar, Garuda - His vehicle/mount. The speciality of Lord Narashimar is that He has three eyes and hence the name Thrinethra Narashimar and the third eye is shown whenever the “deepa-aaradhanai” is done. The Pradosham day (Thirteenth day after the full moon) is considered to be auspicious in this temple and the poojas (rituals) are conducted during this day. Normally, Pradosham is day when people go to Shiva temples to get the blessing of Lord Shiva  because He saved the world by intaking the dreaded poison (Aala Kaala Visham) during the twilight. Likewise, Lord Narashima saved the world from Iranyakashibu by killing him in the twilight and so Pradosham is auspicious in this temple.

There are some interesting legends associated with this temple. We will see two of those legends that related to the temple’s origin and history. One is that of Maharishi Jabaali and the other is that of Vyakra Paadhar.

Maharishi Jabaali went on a deep meditation just doing a mental incantation of Lord Narashima’s form. He wanted to worship him in the form as shown to Prahaladhan. Lord Narashima pleased with the worship appeared before Maharishi Jabaali in the form he requested in the very place where the Singaperumal Kovil is today.

The other legend is Maharishi Vyakara Paadhar wanted to worship Lord Narashima came to this area which was then a jungle. He met a hunter who was living in that part of the jungle. The hunter curiously asked the Maharishi about why he was there in this perilous jungle. The Maharishi thought the layman hunter will not be able to understand his purpose visiting the jungle and hence he said that he ventured into the jungle in search of an animal. The hunter told that he could help the Maharishi with that.

But the Maharishi thought that the hunter being an illiterate layman and said that the hunter could not find such an animal that he was searching for. The hunter vowed to find the animal and bring it before the Maharishi within the end of the day else he would die before the Maharishi and asked how the animal would look. The Maharishi told that the animal would have a lion’s face and human’s body picturizing Lord Narashima hoping that the Lord would never appear before the hunter because he doesn’t even have the knowledge of who Lord Narashima was.

The hunter challenged that he will find the animal of Maharishi’s description before sunset else he would die in front of the Maharishi. The Maharishi smiled thinking that Lord Narashima has not appeared before a person like him who has showed so much devotion and meditation, how will he appear before a hunter who doesn’t even have the knowledge of Lord Narashima.

The hunter wandered all day long in the forest scanning thoroughly in search of the beast that Maharishi described. The sunset was close and he couldn’t find the beast, so, dejected he walked back to fulfil his promise of dying before the sage. When walked back, suddenly he heard a loud roar. And there! he found the beast he was searching for. He felt joyed and without wasting time he pounced on the beast and tied its hands with a rope and took him to the Maharishi.

He exclaimed to the Maharishi about his find and pulled the beast in front of the Maharishi. The Maharishi was surprised as he could see nothing, but just a rope hanging in mid-air the other end of which the hunter was holding. Confused, the Maharishi asked where the beast is as he could not see. The hunter said that the beast was right in front of him. That was when the Maharishi heard the Divine Utterance, Lord Narashima told that the Maharishi had the pride and arrogance but not the dedication, so He did not appear before him. But the illiterate hunter showed the dedication thinking all the day without any deviation in his mind and he was able to see Him.

The Maharishi realised his mistake and started to worship with the dedication and later Lord Narashima appeared before him to bless. The jungle where this event happened is the Singaperumal Kovil

Now let’s see some pictures of this great temple

The entrance to the Singaperumal Kovil

The vimanams of Lord Narashimar and Ahobilavalli Thaayar

Another view of the vimanams of Lord Narashimar and Ahobilavalli Thaayar

The vimanam of Lord Narashimar from behind the temple

The sacred Azhinjil or Kadamba Tree inside the temple it is also the Sthala Virutcham

Me and Lord Narashimar Vimanan

My brother Rajesh and Lord Narashimar Vimanam

The Sthala Virutcham. People do some offerings in the tree like tying cradles and sacred threads hoping for prosperity, children and better life

Another view of the Sthala Virutcham

View of Sunset from the temple

 Garuda Azhwar Statue in the North-West corner of the temple wall

There is also the shrine of Lord Hanuman and big pond outside the temple but not known to many who visit the temple

The Pallavas did a great deed of building this temple by which Lord Narashima has been showering his blessings on the people who flock to worship him. One should visit this temple to enjoy the serene beauty and the divine grace.

More to come, until then...

Kandadevi - The Forgotten Heritage

There are a lot of places in Tamil Nadu associated with the Ramayana. One such forgotten place in the Kandadevi. Kandadevi marks an important event in Ramayana - the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana.


Ravana kidnapped Sita and went on his way to Srilanka. Sita cried in distress for help but in vain. Jatayu saw Sita being kidnapped by Ravana and in distress. Jatayu ventured into the skies to save Sita and fought against Ravana, but during the fight Ravana cut its wings. Jatayu fell to the ground after valiantly fighting against Ravana. Jatayu was holding its life hoping Lord Rama would follow to get back Sita from Ravana. As Jatayu hoped, Lord Rama found Jatayu hurt fatally. Lord Rama knew that Jatayu was his father's long time friend and shed tears on finding Jatayu in its deathbed. 


Lord Rama narrated the incidents that happened and died in Lord Rama's hands. Lord Rama considered Jatayu as his father and performed the final rites for the dead Jatayu. Lord Rama in remembrance of Jatayu installed a shiva lingam and named it as Lord Siragilinathar, meaning the lord without feathers.


The place where Jatayu saw Sita being abducted is Kandadevi, actually Kandaen Devi, meaning the Seeing Sita. Kandaen Devi later got transformed to Kandadevi. There is a place nearby called Iragusari (meaning place where wings fell - Iragu: Wings, feather, Sari - Fall) where Jatayu fought and had his wings cut. Iragusari has now been transformed as Iravuseri.


The temple is now called Lord Swarnamoortheeshwarar Temple. The Goddess is Periyanayagi. The original name of the deity is Lord Siragilinathar, however there are some interesting legends that explain why the name got changed to Lord Swarnamoortheeshwarar.


First one is very interesting. The King who ruled that region wanted to renovate the temple, but his kingdom did not have enough money or gold to renovate the temple. So, he took two businessmen, who were brothers, with him to get enough money from acquaintances. When they were walking near this temple, all three of them stumbled and fell on the ground. The King immediately found it to be strange that all three have falled and ordered his men to dig the place where they fell. There he found lots of gold and precious gems. He realised it as a blessing of Lord Siragilinathar. With the treasure temple the King renovated this temple and named the deity as Lord Swarnamoortheeshwarar as the he was bestowed with gold treasure.


The next - Once there was a severe drought and no rains. All the people in the nearby village suffered and went on without food for many days. They prayed to this Lord to save their lives and it rained gold in that village. The village is named after this incident as Semponmaari - meaning (rain of gold). As a result the Lord who bestowed them prosperity was named Swarnamoorthy


The last one is, The Lord's name in Sanskrit was called as Swarnabarneshwarar (Swarna (Gold) + Barna (Wings, Feather) meaning the Lord with the golden feather, later got transformed as Swarnamoorthy.


Behind the temple, is a big tank called the Jatayu Theertham. The tank is so huge and covers a large area. It is said that the temple tank has never dried up even during drought or intense summer seasons.


Now let us view the pictures of the temple

The Rajagopuram to Lord Siragilinathar Temple, Kandadevi

The temple Mandapam

The Rajagopuram from within the temple

The temple mandapam

The temple mandapam of Annamalaiyar Shrine, Vinayagar Shrine.

The pillar in the mandapam carved out of a single stone

Sculpture in the pillar, so intricate and artistic

The 12 zodiac signs sculpted on the ceiling of the temple mandapam

Lord Dakshinamoorthy carved in one of the pillars

The intricate sculptures in one of the shrines in the temple

At the backside of the temple Prakaram

Temple Vimanam

The temple Prakaram

Lord Subramaniyar Shrine from behind

Temple Prakaram the northern side

Lord Subramaniyar Shrine

The Nagalingam Tree

Lord Karuppar statue carved in the temple walls

Lord Bhairavar Shrine, behind it is the shrine of Periyanayaki Amman

The temple prakaram and the Lord Subramaniyar Shrine

Intricate carvings in the walls of the Periyanayagi Amman Shrine

Close-up picture of the carvings

Much closer look at the carvings

Sculpture of a Peacock holding a snake in its beak

The temple entrance from inside the mandapam (Baby Priyanka and My Father in the picture)

Intricate art of sculpture in the temple entrance

Sculpture masterpiece at the temple entrance. Notice the small shaft connecting the two pillars

The shaft that connects the two pillars, the shaft and the stone it appears attached to is made out of a single stone!

The entrance to the temple that we visited

The temple Rajagopuram, another view

The outer walls of the temple

The temple car (Thaer - தேர்), which is at least a few hundred years old

Intricate carvings in the temple car

Another picture of the beautiful carvings in the temple car

The following pictures show the Jatayu Theertham, the temple's tank

Aerial view of the temple and Jatayu Theertham, just look at the scale of the tank. (Courtesy: Wikimapia.org)

Kandadevi is 2 km Devakottai. Devakottai is a town in Sivagangai district and is one of the oldest municipalities of Tamil Nadu. Renovation is being done in the temple, for further details about the temple timings etc., please contact Karthik Gurukkal - +91 94439 56357

Having so much of heritage to it, Kandadevi is really a forgotten place that needs to be revived and heralded of its glory it once had.


More to come, until then...