|
Almost one hour by local train from
Chennai, and then a ten-minute drive
through the small township of Tiruvallur in Tamilnadu, and you’re at the fourteen
hundred year old VeeraRaghavaswami Koil. Located near the bus terminus, this ancient
temple is of Puranic, historical and epigraphic importance. Dedicated to Vishnu and his
wife Goddess Lakshmi (Kanakavalli), its history was first narrated in the Margandeya
Puranam. According to the purana, both the koil and the temple tank are holy. In fact, the
waters here are considered to be even more sacred than that of the Ganges. It is believed
that anyone who takes a dip in the tank will be freed from all sins, even fleeting through
his mind.
 Built in stone by the rulers of the once
powerful Vijaynagar Empire in the south, the temple celebrated its kumbabhishekam last
year. Previously it was just a small village pagoda with a double shrine – that of
Raghavaswami and his spouse. According to a popular legend, when the temple land was once viksharanya
or forest area, there lived a rishi called Salihotra. He performed penance near the water
tank for a year, after which he woke up on New Moon Day, in the month of Thai, in local
dialect. Not surprisingly he was hungry, so he started to eat a meal of wheat flour, upon
which a poor brahmin man appeared and asked him for some food. It seems that the rishi
gave him his meal and again went off into tapasya. Once again after a year he emerged from
his samadhi on amavasya or new moon day and like before started to partake of his food.
It is believed that the same brahmin man who had appeared
the previous year came forth again to ask for food. The rishi undaunted, generously parted
with his meal yet again. "I want to rest" now said the poor
brahmin. "Where
should I lie down?" Salihotra asked him to have his pick of the area. The brahmin
next asked for a cover for covering him, so the rishi handed him the bark of a tree. Next
morning, when Salihotra went to check on the visitor, to his surprise he found
VeeraRaghavaswami reclining in his place (from then on, Vishnu in his reclining posture
came to be worshipped here). Raghavaswami informed him that hereafter he would permanently
stay
|
 here
and also invited the rishi to ask
him for a boon. "I am more than satisfied with your darshan" said the devotee
"but whoever comes here to worship you from now on, should not return disappointed.
He must be blessed by you and have his prayers answered."
Thereafter, on every new moon day, crowds throng the temple
doorsteps to seek the blessings of the Lord and to wash away their sins in the holy tank.
The Lord is considered the ‘doctor of all doctors’ here. It is believed that if
a person visits the temple on three consecutive amavasya days, he is cured permanently of
all ailments. But Raghavaswami provides his healing touch not only to illnesses, but also
to all kinds of problems. Even on regular days, prayers do not go unanswered, so maintain
the priests of this age-old koil.
The koil celebrates the Brahmotsavam on new moon day in the
month of Thai (January) every year. Festivities continue for ten days during which period,
Vishnu is decorated in various forms and postures and taken out in a procession. Prasadam
is generally of sugar rice, pongal or curd rice though normally even the devotee can get
the prasadam of his choice made within the temple premises, on the payment of a certain
amount. During the floating festival in the month of Ani, falling around June and July,
chariots with Vishnu sitting or reclining atop, are floated in the water tank amidst
chanting of religious slokas and hymns.
 At present, the temple is being maintained by the Jeer Swamyji of
Ahobila Mutt in Andhra Pradesh, under whose supervision, renovations to the temple are
undertaken from time to time and temple festivals celebrated with exuberance and religious
fervour.
The temple is open on all days between 7-12 in the morning
and 4 - 8 in the evening. Daily archanas are held twice a day, though the daily routine
undergoes a change during festive occasions.
Shobha Mathur Pandian
|
