The Splendour of Srivilliputtur

Preface Srivilliputtur, among the best-known pilgrimage centers of Tamil Nadu, is known for its association with Andal. The Vatapatrashayee and Andal-Rangamannar temples are ancient and historic, visited by hundreds of devotees annually. I deem it a privilege and honor to have been requested to bring out a book on Srivilliputtur, with a focus on the Vatapatrashayee and the Andal-Rangamannar temples and I wish to thank Sri Lakshminarayanan of Universal Publishing for the same. I am deeply obliged to Dr Prema Nandakumar for contributing four erudite articles to this book. My sincere thanks to Dr Asha Krishnakumar, Sri V.Sriram, Dr. G.Sankara Narayanan and Sri Rakesh Raghunathan for their contributions on various aspects of the history and heritage of Srivilliputtur. I am much obliged to Sri S.Kannan for going through the manuscript in detail and for his valuable suggestions.

Introduction The bustling town of Srivilliputtur is well known for its Vishnu temple dedicated to Vatapatrashayee and the adjacent temple for Andal and Rangamannar. The Vatapatrashayee temple is one of the famous Divya Desams or sacred places eulogized in the Tamil verses (pasurams) of the Alwars (twelve important devotees of Vishnu). The deity in this temple has received the encomiums of Perialwar and Andal who belonged to this place.

The first chapter of this book details the traditional story (Sthala Puranam) of Srivilliputtur, while the next is about the two famous Alwars connected with this sacred place- Perialwar and Andal, with special reference to the literary works of Andal, namely the Thiruppavai and Nachiyar Thirumoli. There is a chapter on the Amuktamalyada, a well-known literary work in Telugu by Emperor Krishnadeva Raya of the 16th century C.E.

The chapter on the architecture and sculptures of the Vatapatrashayee and Andal-Rangamannar temples gives the general layout of the two temples situated adjacent to each other and details about the various sanctums, images of deities enshrined therein, sculptures and paintings. Andal's parrot (kili) is famous, especially in the Srivilliputtur temple. Its symbolism, importance, material of which it is made and various other details are the content of a chapter focusing on the parrot. Around Srivilliputtur are some small shrines which are connected with the main temples in this town. These find mention in a separate chapter.

The numerous festivals which are celebrated for Vatapatrashayee and Andal-Rangamannar have been documented in detail in this volume as has the traditional ritual known as Araiyar Sevai which is an integral part of worship in Srivilliputtur. A few songs have been composed on Srivilliputtur and these have been highlighted in this book. There is a chapter on a literary work called Nacharu Parinayam in Telugu which is a Yakshagana on Andal's wedding, composed in the 18th century. A chapter exclusively for the inscriptions found in the Vatapatrashayee and Andal-Rangamannar temples provides a lot of information about donations by royalty and others, while the last chapter is about the various food offerings given to the deities in this sacred town. A brief write up about the Vaidyanatha Svami temple in Madavar Vilagam also finds a place in this volume.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages