CHENNAI: A temple built by an English Governor of Madras Kaladipettai near Thiruvottriyur has a small Vishnu temple dedicated to Kalyana Varadaraja Perumal which is about three hundred years old. The traditional name of this place is Padmapuram. It was later named Colletpet, after Joseph Collet who was the Governor of Madras from 1717 to 1719 during the days of the East India Company. Subsequently, the name was changed from Colletpet to Kaladipettai.
The origin of this temple revolves around Vijayaraghavachariar, a devotee of Varadaraja Svami of Kanchipuram, who was employed by the East India Company. Joseph Collet was impressed with him but was troubled by the fact that Vijayaraghavachariar used to visit Kanchipuram frequently which interrupted his work. So Collet decided to construct a temple for this god in Padmapuram, where Vijayaraghavachariar lived.
The stone image of Kalyana Varadaraja Perumal is in a standing pose, flanked by his consorts, Sri Devi and Bhu Devi. The processional image (utsava-murti) is worshipped as Pavazhavanna Perumal (the name of another God in Kanchipuram). The mandapa in front of the main sanctum has shrines for the Azhvars, and also Ramanuja and Manavala Mamuni — Vaishnavite preceptors.
The main image of Goddess Lakshmi is called Perundevi Thayar (as in the Varadaraja Svami temple in Kanchipuram) while the utsava-murti is worshipped as Pavazhavalli Thayar. It is rare for the processional image of Goddess Lakshmi (Thayar) to be known by a different name. The annual festival is conducted at exactly the same time as the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram. Many sanctums for Rama, Hanuman, Sudarsana and Andal are seen in the vast courtyard.