Trip To Sthalasayana Perumal Koil , Mahabalipuram

A TRIP TO MAHABALIPURAM……..STHALA SAYANA PERUMAL  AND AADHI VARAHAR

My Chitti Vedam Chari, Cousin Dr Srivatsan, husband Rangarajan , daughter Sunanda and self left Chennai at around 3.30 in the afternoon on 20^th Apr and reached Mahabalipuram at 5 pm. At Mahabalipuram  we are directed straight to the temple with out any further ado.

The temple is right in front of the beautiful and huge Arjuna Penance  panel , carved in the mountain.

Inside the temple we head straight to perumal sannidhi…perumal is known as  Sthala Sayana perumal. Lying down pose without his Adhi Seshan and Brahma from his naval. His feet resting on a beautiful thousand petalled lotus.

The story goes that Sri Pundarika rishi wanted to offer a big thousand petalled lotus that he found in a local pond to perumal but found that the sea waters were denying him entry to the temple. A very old man who came along asked the rishi for some food as he was very hungry and in all his compassion the Rishi went in search of food for the old man, and meanwhile thee old man has cleared the place of sea waters , but the rishi found the old man lying down, exhausted with spading out the water but offered dharsha to the Rishi as sthala sayana perumal with his right arm resting on the ground and left calling the rishi towards him. The Rishi offered his humble offering of lotus and the God happily rested his feet on it. This perumal is lying on a stone pedestal.

The Archakar there  does archanai to the Perumal in a loud booming voice in very catchy ragas.

The thayar sannidhi is separate and the thayar is NILA MANGAI thayar.

As we had heard of the Gnyana piran koil nearby we asked the Archakare who was kind enough to take us there himself. Normally this sannidhi is opened only in the mornings for an hour around 9:30. This temple is called the Valavanthai Piran….The Perumal is known as Aadhi varahar. This  koil is carved inside a rock , a common sight in Mahabs.

The perumal  stands  huge, with his Feet firmly planted in the ground, with the thayar on his right thigh , he holds her gently, lovingly around the hip, while he supports her feet with his left hand. He is green in colour and this style of making idols is called Varna kalaabam. Not of stone, but a mixture of various materials.

He is the One who gives Knowledge hence He is Gnana piran . He does not stand Alone, he is surrounded by many big personalities, carved in the mountain. 

The great Pallava king Simha Vishnu Pallavan, father of the great MahendraVarman. Sits with his wife and son. Near him stands the big Rudra.   Shiva with the Ganga on his head , the sun and moon on either side of his head.  On the right side of the AdhiVarahar is a beautiful panel sculpture of Parvathi  doing Jalakreedai with her maidens –in- waiting and next to her is  the Pallava King, Mahendra Pallavan pointing out to his wife, the beautiful scene of parvathi s indulgence.

There is a Vishnu Statue with Prayoga chakram in his right hand and Shanku in his left hand.

The Archakar maintains that there are snakes living inside but harmless, always coming in through the main door, so as he went in , he claps his hands ,waits and only then goes inside.

These temples have been kept under supervision of The Archelogical Survey of India.

The trip was a very pleasant one , as we sang Kurai ondrum illai, Sagara sayana vibho,  kandena Govindana…….on our way back ,coffee on the wayside inn with a kulfi thrown in ,and as we drew near city  we decided to do a woodlands dinner so off we carry ourselves to Vrindavan and after  a good dinner  we return home  satisfied.