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 An
architectural marvel associated with the Sri Prasanna Venkatesa
Perumal Temple, in Padur (pronounced as Paadhoor), near Ulundurpet,
in Villupuram district, is that the sun's rays come and pay
obeisance to the Lord for a week in the Tamil month of Aaavani
(7-12).
The rays remain so for about 12 minutes from about 5.30 a.m.
says the priest of the temple, S Padmanabhan, with great feeling.
The Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple has
several legends associated with it. One is that in the distant past,
the tahsildar of the place, C O J Rao, had a dream one night that an
idol was buried in the village.
The idol was dug out and worshipped. Since the
main deity appeared from an anthill, he came to be known as
Nagamalai Nayaganar and as he appeared in the dream of the tahsildar,
he also came to be known as Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal.
 Another interesting legend is that the utsavar
was also found buried in the village near the pond. Since the idol
had a copper plate stating that it was shifted from Madurai, people
realised that somebody had tried to safeguard it during the invasion
of the Muslims.
The
utsavar, called Prasanna Varadarajan or Prasanna Devarajan, is a
beautiful panchaloha idol that stands in the company of Sridevi and
Bhoodevi.
 The Veera Anjaneyar idol also appeared in the
dream of an old man and a tahsildar who had gone to nearby
Ulunthandavar Koil and were resting there. When the idol was dug out,
the villagers asked the tahsildar to keep the idol in the Padur
temple and worship it there, says temple hereditary trustee V
Sundaram Iyengar, a sprightly man at the grand old age of 92.
 There
is a Garuda pillar at the entrance to the temple. Once you enter the
temple seven steps lead to the dwajasthambam and Garudan shrine.
There is a Lakshmi Narasimhar idol before the sanctum sanctorum that
is not worshipped as it is disfigured. Next to the Lakshmi
Narasimhar idol is the holy find of Veera Anjaneyar. There is no
plan to make a separate shrine for the Anjaneyar, as per his wish!
 Majestic
dwarapalakas guard the sanctum sanctorum where stands Sri Prasanna
Venkatesa Perumal with his consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi in nindra
kolam. He is accompanied by the utsavar murthis - Prasanna
Varadaraja Perumal with Sridevi and Bhoodevi; Navaneetha Kannan;
Chakrathazhwar and Selvar.
There is a separate shrine for Thayar to the left
of the sanctum sanctorum. The beautiful idol is known by the
Sanskrit name Padmavathy and the Tamil name, Alarmel Mangai.
 To the right of the sanctum sanctorum is the
shrine for Andal, Vedanta Desikar, Udayavar and the first Jeeyar of
Ahobila Mutt, Sri Adivansadakopa Yatindra. The temple's close links
with the Ahobila Mutt can be gauged from the fact that the 36th
Jeeyar, Sri Srinivasa Yatindra Mahadesikan's brindavanam is situated
there. It is to be noted that this is the only temple after
Srirangam where the brindavanam of Ramanujar is situated, to have a
brindavanam of a guru.
The
various organisations that are associated with the temple and the
devotees belonging to the village make sure that various festivals
are celebrated through the year:
 Chithirai: Chitrai 1, Laksha Deepam for Lord
Anjaneya. There is also vennnai kappu alankaram and vadamalai
alanakaram.
Akshaya Thrithiyai is also celebrated in this
month with garudaseva.
Vaikasi: Vaikasi Visakam is marked by Garuda Seva.
The temple boasts of a beautiful thanga Garudan.
Adi: Thayar procession on Fridays and Andal
thirukalyanam during Adi Pooram.
Avani: Sri Jayanthi celebrations.
 Purattasi: Brahmotsavam. The various vahanams used in the processions are:
Hamsa vahanam, Chandra Prabhai, Hanumantha vahanam, Sesha Vahanam,
thanga Garuda vahanam (the seva is performed by the prasanna
Venkatesa Baktha Jana Sabha) and Gaja vahanam (conducted by the
Vedanta Desikar Sabha). The grand finale is the kalyana utsavam
(this was the 87th year it was conducted by the Sri Prasanna
Venkatesa Kainkarya Sabha) and Pushpa Pallakku leading to
rathotsavam.
The temple chariot was renovated in 1989 and now
a devotee has donated money to build a tin shed to guard the wooden
structure, informs S Vijayaraghavan, son of the hereditary trustee.
Aippasi: Pavithrotsavam and Deepavali are celebrated during this month.
Karthigai: Thirukarthigai utsavam is celebrated
during this month and Thirumangai Alwar sathumurai is also observed.
 Margazhi: Dhanur masa poojas mark this month and
Vaikunta Ekadasi is also celebrated grandly.
Thai: Thayar is taken out in a procession around
the temple on the Fridays of this month. There is also Kanu utsavam
for Andal, and Ayana utsavam.
Panguni: Thirukalyanam marks Panguni Uthiram in
this month.
Apart from this almost a festival-a-month,
bhajans are held every Saturday. The mandapam in front of 36th Jeer
of Ahobilamutt was constructed by various donors especially by Shri
P.MuthuRaja of PMR Educational Trust, Mugappair, Chennai. Further,
the kitchen, generally called as madaipalli was constructed by Shri
G.R.. Krishnan, Ashok Nagar, Chennai, a philanthropist.
It is voluntary organisations that conduct most
festivals and carry out most of the work in the temple.
The Prasanna Venkatesa Kainkarya Sabha
built a separate shrine for the Jeeyar's brindavanam in the temple.
The sabha also built a house for the priest in
place of the old tiled-roof house that his family was living in. So
committed are the members that the house was built within 90 days at
a nominal cost.
The Srinivasa Seva Samithy, headed by A K Iyengar,
is actively involved with the temple that is nearly 930 years old and is an
example of Chola architecture.
One
might wonder at the number of voluntary organisations that run
within the temple. Though the temple comes under the HR&CE for
auditing purposes, it does not have a hundial. The temple has some
lands but they are not fertile enough to yield any revenue now. So, the
temple is run by donations from devotees.
A famous devotee provided piped water connection for the
temple by building a tank and installing a pumpset. Another devotee,
Krishnan Indra, built a madapalli where the prasadam during the
Brahmotsavam is prepared.
Recently, another organisation, called Vasudaiva
Kutumbakam Seva Trust was formed in the temple and it has got tax exemption under 80G of the IT
Act.
 All
these organisations are getting together to conduct the consecration
of the temple. "I have seen one samprokshanam in 1986. I would
love to see another one now," remarks the hereditary trustee,
Sundaram Iyengar. His wish it to come true as the temple is now
gearing up for renovation. They are planning for a 'balalayam' of
the idols. There is a proposal to construct a rajagopuram.
(One of the important players of the previous samprokshanam was late
A K Sampath Iyengar, a native of Padur. Till his death, he was a
part of all the activities that took place in the temple. Though he
died eight years ago, his family continues to do the things he used
to do for the temple. Every year, New Year celebrations on January 1
and the fourth day of the Purattasi Brahmotsavam are supported by
them.)
"We are also planning for a mirror room (kannadi
arai) for the Lord," says A K Iyengar. He also mentions that it
would be nice if people who come to visit the temple can have rooms
to stay in where they could be provided toilet facilities.
All this calls for huge investments and the
various organisations associated with the temple are looking to
devotees to loosen their purse strings and contribute liberally.
There
are already schemes like paying Rs 250 to conduct a day's pooja -
the temple conducts five-time pooja - or contributing to the upkeep
of the temple in some other form, or taking up the conduct of one of
the many festivals that mark the temple calendar, says P
Govindarajan, who belongs to the village.
 His brother Sekar expresses his ardent wish that
everybody comes to know about Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal and that
his Padur becomes a must-see place in the itinerary of all devotees
like they now make it a point to visit
Parikal, which lies 8 km
from this village.
Details of the temple:
Deity: Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal
Thayar: Alarmel Mangai
Theertham: Seshanadhi, Garudanadhi
Vimanam: Ananda Vimanam
Pooja style: Vaikanasa Agamam
Jeeyar brindavanam pooja style: Pancharathram
Pooja timings: 9 a.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m.
How to get there: The village lies 15
minutes from Ulundurpet on National Highway 45. It lies between
Gadilam and Ulundurpet, west of IOC/Reliance petrol pump.
It is reachable from Ulundurpet (8 km east) and
from Villupuram (30 km south).
Devotees can send in their contribution for
archana, giving details of the name, gothram and star. The prasadam
will be sent by post, assures the Srinivasa Seva Samithy. Those who
wish to contribute in cash or kind may do so to:
Srinivasa Seva Samithy,
Registered 55/04,
Padur - 606 115,
Ulundurpet Taluk,
Villupuram district.
R Chitra
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Published
on Nov 27th, 2007 |
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