Nagapattinam, an ancient and historic coastal town, is home to a Vishnu temple, wherein the principal deity is called Neelamegha Perumal. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams or places sacred to Vishnu eulogised in the Tamil verses of the Azhvars (poet-devotees of South India). Thirumangai Azhvar worshipped the deity here and his verses are in the poem Periya Thirumozhi. Neelamegha Perumal is in a standing posture, facing East, holding a mace (gada). Soundarya in Samskrit means ‘beautiful’ and the traditional name of Nagapattinam was ‘Soundarya Vana’ or ‘Soundarya Aranya Kshetram’ (beautiful forest), the processional image (Utsava-murti) is worshipped as Soundararajan and the Vimanam above the main sanctum is called Soundarya Vimanam. A rare feature is that this vimanam has five finials (kalasams).
Goddess Lakshmi in this temple is called Soundarya Valli Thayar and the Utsava-murti of this deity is worshipped as Gajalakshmi.The temple has three prakarams (enclosures) and fifteen vimanams. The tall gopuram at the entrance was built in 1658 by Nagamallu Jagannatha Nayaka, a devotee of Vishnu and an advisor to the Dutch who needed a lighthouse to be constructed in this town to guide their ships. This duty was entrusted to Nagamallu Jagannatha Nayaka who built the tall Rajagopuam in which the topmost storey was used as a light house. This philanthropist, whose image and that of his wife are in the mandapam, also constructed a mandapam, the temple walls and donated lands.
Other images in worship include Ranganatha and a rare bronze image of Ashta Bhuja Narasimha (Narasimha with eight hands) blessing Prahlada and slaying Hiranyakasipu. The image of Garuda here is also rare as this vehicle (vahana) of Vishnu is in a seated posture. Some of the important festivals are the Brahmotsavam for Perumal in Panguni and the Brahmotsavam for Soundarya Valli Thayar in Vaikasi. Soundararajam Ashraye in Ragam Brindavana Saranga was composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835), the famous music composer on his visit to this temple.
Temple tank
The sacred tirtham is Sara Pushkarini
Sacred tree
The Sthala-vriksham is the mango tree
Chithra Madhavan
cityexpresschn@gmail.com
The writer is a historian who focuses on temple architecture