CHENNAI: The Pandava Doota Perumal temple, Kanchipuram is one of the 108 Divya Desams or important Vishnu temples eulogised by the Azhvars (important devotees of Vishnu). Peyazhvar, Bhudattazhvar, Tirumazhisai Azhvar and Tirumangai Azhvar have sung about the greatness of this place which was once called Padagam.
The tradition (Sthala-Purana) of this temple is connected with an episode in Mahabharata. When Krishna went as an emissary (doota) of the Pandavas to the Kaurava court to request Duryodhana to avert war, the latter hatched a plot to imprison him.
However, Krishna at that time assumed the gigantic Vishwaroopa form. With Krishna’s grace, the blind Dritharashtra was able to temporarily get back his eyesight to have a vision of the Vishwaroopa. The image of Krishna at Padagam is believed to be this Vishwaroopa form.
The colossal image of Krishna in the Pandava Doota Perumal temple approximately 25 feet in height is seated with the right leg bent and the left leg placed in front. His right hand is in abhaya hasta (gesture of protection) while the left hand is in varada hasta (boon-giving) gesture. The temple has a rare image of Arulala Perumal Emberumanar, a disciple of Srivaishnava preceptor Ramanujacharya. There is a sanctum for Goddess Rukmini, consort of Krishna and another for Sudarsana (Chakrattazhvar) with Yoga Narasimha on the reverse side.
A few historic inscriptions are found here, the earliest of which dated 1075 AD, belongs to the reign of Kulottunga Chola I (1071-1122 AD). This inscription states that a merchant named Arulaladevan living in Kanchipuram provided the temple of Tiruppadagam with a flower-garden and made a donation to support the gardeners and their families. Another inscription Chola epigraph dated 1109 AD mentions two priests named Dudakari Tiruvaranga-mani Bhattan and Ninra Narayana Bhattan who were to give a certain amount of curd for the offerings to the God every day.