Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa visited Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Temple in Triplicane here on Monday morning and had a darshan of the Lord arriving through the ‘Paramapada Vasal’ or the ‘Sorga Vaasal’ on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi.
The Chief Minister, who arrived at the shrine around 4 am, was accorded a grand welcome by officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment department.
She first sought blessings of the presiding deity in the ancient temple. Thousands of devotees also thronged the temple to seek the blessings of the Lord.
At 4.30 am, the Chief Minister and devotees had a darshan Lord Vishnu arriving through the decorated entrance and chanted ‘Govinda… Govinda..’ The chief minister spent about 40 minutes in the temple.
According to the legend, Nammalwar attained Mukthi on Vaikuntha Ekadasi and that Lord Vishnu himself welcomed him to the heaven.
Another belief is that by witnessing the arrival of Lord Vishnu through the ‘Swarga Vaasal’ one can attain salvation.
Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Temple, which belongs to the 8th century and one of the 108 divya desams, was built during the Pallava period.