Kanchipuram, which is well-known for its temples dedicated to Siva and Vishnu, also has a few small shrines for devotees. One such is a sanctum for Kuresha or Kuratthazhvan, a loyal disciple of the Srivaishnava Acharya (preceptor) Ramanujacharya. Born in Kuram (Kura) village, close to Kanchipuram, Kuresha studied under Ramanujacharya in Kanchipuram and later followed his teacher to Srirangam.
According to tradition, Ramanujacharya visited Kashmir to study a manuscript called Bodayana Vritti, a treatise on the Brahma Sutras along with Kuresha and other disciples. The king of Kashmir permitted him to take the manuscript to Srirangam, but while returning, a few Kashmiri scholars who followed Ramanujacharya took the manuscripts back. Fortunately, Kuresha had studied the text in Kashmir and had committed the entire work to memory. After their return to Srirangam, he wrote down the Sri Bhashya, the commentary on the Brahma Sutra as Ramanujacharya was dictating it.
Kuresha was instrumental in saving the life of his teacher when an inimical king, traditionally known as Krimikanta Chola wanted Ramanujacharya to accept Siva as the supreme God. In the south-facing temple for Kurattazhvan in Kanchipuram, the bearded stone image of this scholar-devotee is in a seated posture with his right hand in the vyakhyana mudra as if expounding the scriptures and his left hand holding manuscripts. The processional image of Kurattazhvan is kept in the well-known Varadaraja Perumal temple nearby near the image of Ramanujacharya. The mandapa in front has pillars of the Vijayanagara style with beautiful sculptures of various Vaishnava deities and devotees.
Adjacent to the Kurattazhvan shrine is a small sanctum for his illustrious son, Parashara Bhatta. Here, the image of Parashara Bhatta is seen in a sitting posture facing east with his right hand in vyakhyana mudra and left hand holding manuscripts. Another ancient temple for Kuresha is located at his birthplace Kuram.
Kurattazhvan, a great devotee of Varadaraja Perumal, composed the Samskrit work Varadarajasthavam. An inscription dated 1555 A.D. of the Vijayanagara period in the Varadaraja Perumal temple mentions that offerings were made on Kurattazhvan’s birth-star (asterism) Hastam in the Tamil month of Thai (January-February) here. On the birth asterism (Thai Hastham) of Kurattazhvan, Varadaraja Perumal visits the Kuratthazhvan shine in Kanchipuram accompanied by the processional image (utsava murti) of Kuresha where He is received with due honours and puja is offered here.
Chithra Madhavan
cityexpresschn@gmail.com
The writer is a historian who focuses on temple architecture