Parikkal Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy

                                                             SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA

                                                SRIMATHE NIGAMAANTHA MAHADESIKAYA NAMAHA

                                                              ACHARYA TIRUVADIGALE SARANAM

       nrsimhasUrim AcAryam nrsimham paradaivatam | prApya-prApaka-bhAvena prapadye paravAnaham |

Visiting a temple, seeking His blessings and having His darshan are all HIS WILL. How many times have we not planned to go to a temple and yet for some unknown reason, either the trip does not materialize or we return without having His darshan. There are times when we are not even able to plan a trip to a temple. Strangely, however, there are many occasions when we are blessed with a beautiful and satisfying darshan even without much planning from our side. I guess He decides when and whom He will allow to have his darshan. I will say it is always HIS CALL and we got one such recently.

Ever since the pandemic took over, I have not moved out of my home like most of us. But the yearning to see my Perumal was rising within. The craving for seeing HIM in all His varied decorations (alankarams) was eating me up. I started initially praying Him that soon turned to pestering HIM and asking as to why he was not calling us for the darshan. But luckily, he heard me this time sending me the divine call finally. We could suddenly plan for a temple trip near Chennai.

I was longing to see Parikal Lakshmi Narasimhar for over five years now. It just remained a plan until the last weekend. KK, friends and I without much planning left for Parikal. We started around 12 noon from Chennai. On our way, we stopped at Aryas at Villupuram for some quick snack and drove straight to the temple town to reach around 4 pm for a lovely darshan.

Parikal Narasimha swamy Temple near Villupuram

This is one of the four Narasimha Swamy temples in this region. The four Narasimhar temples are

• Parikal Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple near Villupuram
• Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple, Poovarasankuppam, 15 km from Panrutti
• Narasimha Swamy temple, Singrikudi, 12Kms from Pondicherry
• Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, Anthili, 4 kms from Thirukoviloor.

The Legend:

Parikal Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple is a very ancient temple said to be around 1800 years old. King Vasantaraja had ruled this region with his capital at Vriddhachalam. Legend says that he was continuously troubled by an Asura named Parikalasuran. Hence on the advice of his Guru, he did severe penance. Lord Narasimhar was pleased and as a blessing to the Raja, he destroyed Parikalasuran here with his fury. Seeing this ugra avataram, the king Vasantharaja, invoked the blessings of the divine mother Goddess Lakshmi to calm Lord Narasimha and bless the devotees as a shanta swaroopi. Kanakavalli thayyar is said to have sat on the lap of Lord Narasimha, calmed him down and blessed the king and the rishis in this posture. King Vasantaraja was so delighted to have this darshan that he ordered the place to be named after the asura Parikalasura, as the asura was in a way responsible for such an adorable darshan. Hence it came to be called as Parikalapuram and later became as Parikal.

The History:

This temple is situated between two rivers, the Thenpennai and Garuda. Hence Parikal is considered to be as holy as Srirangam. History says that this temple was built by King Vasantaraja of Vriddhachalam. But during Mogul invasion, even this temple was not spared. Later king Veera Narasimha of Karnataka rebuilt this temple. Several inscriptions on the temple led us to this discovery. Raja Raja Chozhan 1 is said to have built the temple tank.

The temple:

This temple has no Rajagopuram and is situated at the centre of the village. At the sanctum Sanctorum, Lord Lakshmi Narasimhar is seen in a sitting posture with Goddess Lakshmi on His left lap. This is the only temple where the goddess Lakshmi is seen embracing the lord with her right hand on His back and both of them looking at the devotees to shower their blessings. In the sanctum, you will also see the idol of Hanuman which was installed by Vyasaraja. As told by the priest, the idol installed by Vyasaraja is very unique with a bell on the tip of the tail. It is also a distinctive practice in this temple that the food after being offered to the lord is offered to Hanuman. In all other temples, it is offered to the goddess. 

The utsavar moorthi is Narasimhar in a standing posture with His consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi. One can also see the beautiful archa vigraha of Sudarshana and Lord Narasimhar

There are separate shrines for Kanakavalli thayar and Lord Varadarajar. Lord Varadarajar is in a standing posture facing Southside. A separate sanctum for Hanuman is also seen. Here we can see both Veera Anjaneya and bhakta Anjaneya 

The vimanam of this temple is ashtakona vimaanam. The teertham is Garuda theertham and the sthala vrishkam is Magizham. There is a well inside the temple called as Naga Koopam. It is believed that this water cures many illnesses.

Renovation of the main temple, Balalayam:

Since the ancient temple struture is dipiliating, the authorities have taken up the renovation of the main temple. Hence, the sanctum sanctorum is out of bounds for the public. However, the replica of Lakshmi Narasimhar as seen in the sanctum, is consecrated in a small shrine with the utsavar. This replica is made from a fig tree while the one in the sanctum is of saligramam. 

The narasimhar and thayaar with their smile and benevolence welcome every one of his devotees and we do get a feeling that all is well.

Prarthana sthalam:

This is known as a prarthana sthalam. It is a runa vimochana sthalam as well.Devotees throng to this temple to get rid of the Runa. Runa or debt here means the five dharmic runa. It is believed that only when we are absolved from these debts, we attain moksham.

Devotees throng to this temple for rina vimochana and recite the Rina Vimochana Narasimhar sthothram.

Here is the video link for the rina vimochana sthothram by Maalola Kannan

We were fortunate enough to visit Poovarasan kuppam Lakshmi Narasimhar and Singrikudi Narasimhar on the same. More about these two temples in the next post.Hoping that you also get his darshan soon.

How to reach:

By Road:

Take the Chennai -Trichy highway. After Villupuram, take a right just before the Kedilam crossroad. Cross the railway line to reach the temple.

By Rail

Passenger trains from Villupuram and Vriddhachalam stop at Parikal Station
Located around 25kms South West of Villupuram and 3kms west of the Kedilam Cross Road off the Chennai-Trichi National Highway.

Temple Timings:

Morning: 6 A.M to 1 P.M

Evening:  4 P.M to 8 P.M

Tirumanjanam is performed on every Swathi nakshatram.

CONTACT: Raghavan Bhatter: 99439 34152

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