CHENNAI: Nemili, near Thiruttani, is home to a historic temple for Vishnu worshipped as Vaikunthavasa Perumal. According to tradition, a farmer of this village promised this deity a share of the produce from his land. Though rewarded with a bountiful yield, the farmer did not keep up his promise. The rice grains, heaped like a hill, suddenly changed to a hill of stone. Accepting the apology of the repentant farmer, the deity took a single rice grain with two fingers and gave back the rest to the farmer. It is believed that this is reason why Vaikunthavasa Perumal is seen holding a rice grain in his left hand and that Nemili is the changed form of the word Nelmalai or ‘hill of grains’.
The main sanctum houses the large image of Vaikunthavasa Perumal in a seated posture on Adisesha under the Pushpakoti Vimana. Also known as Veetrinunda Perumal, the deity holds the sankha (conch) and the prayoga chakra (discus ready to be hurled at the foes of his loyal devotees). The lower right hand is positioned in abhaya, which assures protection, while two fingers of the left hand hold a single grain of rice. Seated on either side of the deity are Goddesses Sridevi and Bhudevi. The utsava-murti or the bronze processional image here is called Nitya Kalyana Perumal.
Numerous donative epigraphs in Tamil are inscribed here, the oldest belonging to the reign of Aparajitavarman, one of the last Pallava kings who ruled from Kanchipuram. Many Chola inscriptions beginning from the time of Parantaka I of the 10 th century A.D., mention the part played by the ‘sabha’, the local administrative organisation. Also seen are inscriptions of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of the ancient Karnataka area and others of later times.