CHENNAI: Thirupparkadal, a village near Kanchipuram, has two small Vishnu temples. One is the Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple and the other is dedicated to Sri Ranganatha Svami.
The traditional story connected to the Ranganatha Svami temple is that of Brahma seeking the aid of Vishnu in preventing Goddess Sarasvati in the form of the river Vegavati from destroying the yagasala (place of ritual) where he was performing a yajna. Vishnu obliged him by lying across the course of the river and thus preventing its flow.
This story is similar to the one connected with the Yatoktakari (Vishnu) temple at Tiruvehka in Kanchipuram which is one of the hundred and eight Divyadesams (temples sanctified by the Tamil verses of the Azhvars who are the twelve important devotees of Vishnu).
Though this temple in Tirupparkadal is small, the reclining image of Ranganatha Svami, also known as Kshirabdinatha, is large and awe-inspiring. He is seen resting on Adisesha, with Brahma seated on the lotus emanating from his navel and Goddess Sri Devi by the side, just as this deity is believed to be in Kshirabdi or Tirupparkadal, the ocean of milk. This is the reason why this village proudly bears the name Tirupparkadal.
The main image (moolavar) of Ranganatha, who is facing south, is a rare one as it is made of wood of the fig (atti) tree just like the original image of Atti Varadar in the Varadaraja Svami temple in Kanchipuram. Under the hand is a marakkal, a vessel of measurement. The sacred vimana atop the principal sanctum is called Saptaka Vimana.
There is a separate shrine for Goddess Lakshmi worshipped as Ranganayaki Thayar near the main sanctum.
A few festivals are celebrated in these two shrines. The main festival here is in the month of Panguni (mid March-med April).The Vaikuntha Ekadasi celebrations draw a large crowd every year.