| Temple features: | ||
| Name of this place | Thiru-Kurungudi | |
| Deity in sanctum | Thiru-Kurungudi Nambi east facing standing pose. | |
| Consort of Vishnu in sanctum | Kurungudi Valli Nachiyar | |
| Deity for festivals | Thiru-Vaduga Nambi | |
| Consort for festivals | Kurungudi Valli Nachiyar | |
| Tower is called | Panchakedhaka-vimanam | |
| Holi tank | Thiru Parkadal | |
| Devotees who have seen the god here | Siva and Gajendran | |
| Devotional song sung on the deity by | Namalzhwar Thiru Mangai Alzhwar Periyalzhwar and Thirumalzhisai alzhwar | |
Legend:
Varaha roopam is one of Sri Vishnu's ten incarnations. Varaha purana and Kaisika purana
speak about this temple elaborately. This legend was narrated by Lord Varaha himself
to his consort Lakshmi.
Once there was a harijan family living in Mahendrapuri. All of them were very devoted to Sri
Varahar. One Ekadesi day the man named Nampa-duvan fasted and the next day
he was going to the temple to finish his virtham. As harijans were not allowed to
enter the temple he used to worship the lord from outside of the 'dwajas-thambam'.
When Nampa-duvan was going to the temple a devil caught hold of him and said he was going to eat him. Nampaduvan told the devil " I am going to the temple to worship Sri Maha Vishnu to complete my 'Ekadasi virtham'. Please let me go. I promise that I will come back to you and you can eat me as you wish". The devil hesitated but at last let him go. Nampaduvan went to the temple and as usual he was behind the 'dwajes-thambam'. He was very sad and was crying. " My lord may be this virtham is my last one. But I am unable to see you because of this "dwajesthambam". The Lord pleased with his sincere devotion made the 'dwajesthambam' move so that Nampa-duvan had a great Darshan of the Lord. Even today the 'dwaja-sthambam' in this temple is on to a side of the sanctum. (In every temple it is directly opposite to the presiding deity) Nampaduvan was very happy as at last he had the rare experince of seeing the Lord. He left the temple and was going to the devil to be eaten. On the way the lord incarnated as an old man came to him and cautioned him about the devil and advised Nampa-duvan to take a different route. But Nampa-duvan told the old man about his promise to the devil and wanted to go on the route that would take him its way. The old man pointed out that the scriptures say "when one is personally in danger or to perform one's daughter's marriage or when he is alone with his wife he can go against his promise or even tell a lie. Hence you can change your route away from the devil." Nampa-duvan however insisted on keeping his promise to the devil. He went up to the devil and said " I have returned as I promised. Now you can have me for your food". The devil was very pleased but told the man " I do not feel hungry for food. So give me the 'merits' you have accumulated by observing Ekadasi virtham so many times". The harijan refused this. He would rather be eaten than give away the 'fruits' of his 'virthams'. The devil requested him to give atleast one fourth of the fruit of the virthams and explained the curse it was under. Once upon a time the devil was a brahmin named Yoga sarma. He insulted all the devotees doing Yaga and was not interested in worshipping the lord. Hence the devas cursed him to become a devil. The devil implored the devas for mercy and to withdraw the curse. They told the devil that if one who has accumulated 'merits' on performing 'Ekadasi virtham' followed by 'dwadesi paranam' gives him the fruits of the virtham his curse would be removed. On hearing this Nampa-duvan took pity on the devil and gave away half of the 'merits' of all the virthams he had performed until then. This removed the devil's curse and he attained 'moksham' in this place. This act of good deed of Nampa-duvan doubly increased his "merits' in the eyes of God. He continued his virtham and at the end attained liberation and a place in the heavens with the Lord.
Om Sreem Narayanaya Namo Namaha
Location:
This temple is located
25 kms from Vanama-malai.
in Thirunelveli district Tamil Nadu | ||
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