CHENNAI: Maduramangalam, nearly 15 km from Sriperumbudur, and 8 km north of Sunkuvar Chatram on the Chennai-Bengaluru highway is an ancient and historic village. This place, originally called Mazhalaimangalam, is home to an old Vishnu temple dedicated to Vaikuntha Perumal, dating back to the Chola times.
Maduramangalam is important to Vishnu devotees because of this temple and also it is the birthplace of the Vaishnava preceptor Embar Swami, for whom there is a separate sanctum. Embar, whose original name was Govinda Bhatta, was born in 1021 AD, and was the cousin of the Vaishnava acharya, Ramanuja who belonged to Sriperumbudur. The main sanctum enshrines the image of Vaikuntha Perumal in a standing posture with four arms. The superstructure above the main sanctum is called Vedamoda vimana. The processional image (utsava murti) is a four-armed metal idol of Vishnu in a standing posture flanked by Sri Devi and Bhu Devi.
The shrine of Goddess Lakshmi worshipped as Kamalavalli Thayar faces east. An important sanctum is the one for Embar Swami near the principal shrine. Devotees believe that those with eye ailments are cured after worshipping Embar Swami. At the entrance is a three storeyed gopuram with five kalasas studded with stucco figures portraying themes from the incarnations of Vishnu.
There are two Tamil inscriptions in this village belonging to Parthivendravarman of the Chola times, both dated 965 AD.
(The writer is a historian who focuses on temple architecture)