Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple, Thirukkannamangai
Thirukkannamangai
Photo: Ssriram mt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
One of the Pancha Krishna Kshetrams (five Krishna sthalams of the Cauvery delta).
Sthala Purāṇam
The Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple at Thirukkannamangai, in Tiruvarur district, honours Vishnu as Bhaktavatsala, the Lord who cherishes his devotees. Its sthala puranam recounts that after Mahalakshmi arose from the churning of the Ocean of Milk, being shy to approach Vishnu directly, she came to this place and performed penance seeking him as her husband; the grove where she did so is remembered as Lakshmi Vanam, and the Lord is said to have left his abode to wed her. The Thayar here is therefore worshipped as Abhishekavalli. The temple is most strongly associated with Thirumangai Alvar, who sang it in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, and is renowned for composing his hymns to this Lord in the voice of a woman pining for her beloved, expressing the soul's yearning for union with the divine. The sacred tank, the Darsana Pushkarani, is held to have arisen from water-drops in Brahma's vessel when he worshipped the Lord here. The name Kannamangai is understood to mark the auspiciousness (mangai) of the place beloved to the Lord. Among the Divya Desams of the Chola country, Thirukkannamangai stands as a celebrated abode of the Lord's vatsalya, his tender affection for those who take refuge in him, and the deity's east-facing standing posture is held to embody his readiness to receive every devotee with grace.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Bhaktavatsala Perumal with Abhishekavalli of Thirukkannamangai is glorified by:
Thirukkannamangai, the abode of Bhaktavatsala Perumal and Thayar Abhishekavalli (Aravinda Valli), was sung exclusively by Thirumangai Alvar. His principal decade is Periya Thirumozhi 7.10 (pasurams 1638-1647), in which the Alvar adopts the persona of a love-lorn heroine (nayaki bhava) longing for the Lord; the temple is also referenced in a few other scattered pasurams of his (e.g. 1848, 2008). Tradition holds that the Lord, eager for the Alvar's verses, drew the Mangalasasanam out of him here in the Kaveri delta.
பெரும் புறக்கடலை அடலேற்றினைப் பெண்ணை ஆணை எண்ணில் முனிவர்க்கருள் தருந்தவத்தை முத்தின் திரள் கோவையைப் பத்தராவியை நித்திலத் தொத்தினை அரும்பினை அலரை அடியேன் மனத்தாசையை அமுதம் பொதியின் சுவைக் கரும்பினைக் கனியைச் சென்று நாடிக் கண்ணமங்கையுள் கண்டு கொண்டேனே
perum puRakkadalai adalERRinaip peNNai ANai eNNil munivarkkaruL tharundhavaththai muththin thiraL kOvaiyaip paththarAviyai niththilath thoththinai arumbinai alarai adiyEn manaththAsaiyai amudham podhiyin suvaik karumbinaik kaniyaich chenRu nAdik kaNNamangaiyuL kaNdu koNdEnE
Thirumangai Alvar pours out a garland of epithets for the Lord: He who is the great outer ocean, the mighty bull (lion-like hero), at once feminine and masculine, the fruit of austerity that graces countless sages, a string of clustered pearls, the very life-breath of His devotees, a bunch of pearls, a bud and a blossom, the longing of this servant's heart, sugarcane sweet as packed nectar, a ripe fruit — that very Lord I sought out and found, and beheld Him standing in Thirukkannamangai.
மெய்ந்நலத் தவத்தைத் திவத்தைத் தரும் மெய்யைப் பொய்யினைக் கையிலோர் சங்குடை மைந்நிறக் கடலைக் கடல் வண்ணனை மாலை ஆலிலைப் பள்ளிகொள் மாயனை நென்னலைப் பகலை இற்றை நாளினை நாளையாய் வரும் திங்களை ஆண்டினை கன்னலைக் கரும்பினிடைத் தேறலைக் கண்ண மங்கையுள் கண்டுகொண்டேனே
meynnalath thavaththaith thivaththaith tharum meyyaip poyyinaik kaiyilOr sangudai mainniRak kadalaik kadal vaNNanai mAlai Alilaip paLLikoL mAyanai nennalaip pagalai iRRai nALinai nALaiyAy varum thingaLai ANdinai kannalaik karumbinidaith thERalaik kaNNamangaiyuL kaNdukoNdEnE
He is true austerity of genuine merit, the truth that grants the divine realm, yet (to the deceitful) appears as untruth; the dark sea-hued Lord bearing a conch in His hand, the great Vishnu (Maal), the wonder-worker who reclines on a banyan leaf; He is yesterday, today and this very day, the moon (month) that comes as tomorrow, and the year itself; He is jaggery and the clear sweet juice within sugarcane — that Lord I found and beheld in Thirukkannamangai.
venjinak kaLiRRai viLangAy vIzhak / kanRu vIsiya Isanai pEy magaL / thunja nanju suvaiththuNda thOnRalaith / thOnRal vAL arakkan kedath thOnRiya / nanjinai amudhaththinai nAdhanai / nachchuvAr uchchi mEl niRkum nambiyai / kanjanaith thunja vanjiththa vanjanaik / kaNNamangaiyuL kaNdu koNdEnE
Thirumangai Alvar declares: 'I have seen and obtained Him at Thirukkannamangai' - the Lord who as a child hurled the calf (Vatsasura) to strike down the wood-apple demon (Kapitthasura), who sucked the life out of the ogress Putana along with her poisoned milk, who incarnated to destroy the sword-wielding demon Ravana; He who is poison to His enemies but nectar to His devotees, the Lord (Nathan) who ever stands upon the heads (as the cherished refuge) of those who desire Him, the deceiver who tricked and slew Kamsa.
kaNNamangaiyuL kaNdu koNdEn enRu / kAdhalAl kalikanRi urai seydha / vaNNa oN thamizh onbadhOdu onRivai / vallarAy uraippAr madhiyam thavazh / viNNil viNNavarAy magizhveydhuvar / meymmai sollil veN sangam onREndhiya / kaNNa nindhanakkum kuRippAgil / kaRkalAm kaviyin poruL thAnE
The concluding (phalashruti) verse: Kalikanri (Thirumangai Alvar), out of love and saying 'I have beheld Him at Thirukkannamangai', composed these ten beautiful, melodious Tamil verses. Those who can master and recite them will rejoice in the heavens, becoming celestials in the moon-traversed sky. The Alvar even tells the Lord (who bears the white conch): if it pleases You, the very meaning of this poetry is worth learning.
Tamil text & meaning sourced from divyaprabandham.koyil.org and other Śrī Vaiṣṇava authorities — please cross-check the linked source for the canonical reading.
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