Yathothkari Perumal Temple Kanchipuram

Shrine’s History

The temple is considered one of three oldest temples in Kanchipuram, the other two being Ulagalantha Perumal Temple and Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple. The temple is originally believed to be built during the period of Pallavas. The temple has a set of inscriptions associated with Cholas. A record of the Chola king, Parantaka I indicating gift of 367 kalanju of gold to the temple by an individual . The south wall of the central shrine of the temple has inscriptions from the period Rajendra Chola I indicating gifts of land measuring to one tuni of land and 127 kalanju of gold to the temple. The inscriptions on the base of the eastern wall of the central shrine from the period of Kulothunga Chola I indicating gift for lighting lamps of the temple. The southern side inscriptions of the temple from the period of Kulothunga Chola III indicates a gift of a village to feed 32 Brahmins. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Legends Associated with This Shrine

As per Hindu legend, once there was an argument between Saraswathi, the consort of Brahma and Lakshmi on superiority. They went to Indra, the king of celestial deities. Indra judged Lakshmi as superior and not satisfied with his argument, Saraswathi went to her husband, Brahma. He also chose Lakshmi to be the superior one. Saraswathi was unhappy with the decision and decided to stay away from Brahma. Brahma did a severe penance praying to Vishnu and did an Aswametha Yagna. Saraswathi was still angry that the yagna, which usually is done along with consorts was done alone by Brahma. She tried to disrupt the penance, but Vishnu interfered with his serpent Adisesha. Saraswathi, on seeing Vishnu in her path, accepted her defeat and subsided in the form of river Vegavathi. As Vishnu interfered the path of the river, it was termed Vegavani, then as Vegannai and gradually corrupted to Vekka. The presiding deity thus got one of his names, Vegasetu. Once sage Bhargava had a son through Kanakangi, a celestial dancer. The boy was stillborn and was not fully developed during his birth.

kanakangi left his son under bushes and left to the celestial world. It is believed that the child was a divine incarnation of one of Vishnu’s weapons, the Chakra. By the grace of Vishnu and Lakshmi, the baby became alright and began to cry. A childless farmer couple who were passing by took up the child named him Sivavakkiyar and started rearing him. Once the boy reached adulthood, he was sceptical about choosing between Saivism and Vaishnavism. He was defeated in arguments by Pey Azhwar. He became a devotee of Vaishnavism and the disciple of Pey Azhwar. Sivavakkiyar was also called Bhakthisarar and later as Thirumalisai Alvar. Thirumalisai had a disciple by name Kanikkannan. He also had an old lady serving him – Thirumalisai prayed to the presiding deity of the temple and by the grace of Bhujangasayana Perumal, the old lady became a beautiful young lady. The Pallava king who was ruling the region at that time got attracted by the lady and married her. With time while the king was growing older, the lady remained young.

He called up Kanikannan and ordered to sing the praise of him so that he also turned young. When he refused, the king ordered Kanikannan to be banished out of the country. Kanikannan explained this to his master Thirumalisai, who prayed to Bhujangasayana Perumal. When the king heard this, he ordered the three to be sent off the country, which they obliged. When the three left Kanchipuram, it was engulfed in darkness. Realising his sin, the king worshipped Bhujangasayana Perumal to return along with his two devotees. Since the presiding deity obliged to his devotee’s wishes, he is called Yathothkari Perumal. Yathothka means as requested and kari denotes the person who accomplishes the task. One of the alwars, poet saints of a 7-10th century, Poigai Alvar was born at this temple.

Architectural Relevance of This Shrine

The central shrine of the temple has the image of a presiding deity, “Sonnavannam Seitha Perumal” sported in Bhuganja Sayanam posture. The temple has separate shrines for Azhwars, Rama along with Seetha and Hanuman and Garuda. The vimana of the central shrine is called Vedasara Vimana. It is believed that Perumal was lying left to right as in other temples, but on hearing Thirumalisai Azhwar sing, he turned his lying posture from right to left. The shrine of Komavalli, the consort of Yathothkari is located in the temple. The temple lotus tank where Poigai Azhwar was born is located outside the main entrance.

Shrine’s Map Location and How to Go There

By Road

The city of Kanchipuram is well connected with the other part of the states and it is few km from the Quadrilateral National Highway. There are frequent bus services from Chennai and it takes 2- 3 hours to reach. The Chennai Metropolitan and the state express transport operate the services.

By Rail

Kanchipuram is connected with the southern part of the rail network and few trains are running through Kanchipuram. Suburban trains are running between Kanchipuram and Chennai beach on specified intervals.

By Air

Chennai, the nearest international airport, is situated around 75 km away from Kanchipuram. Both public and private transport facilities are available at the airport.

Shrine Timings

7 A.M to 10 P.M

Events Celebrated at This Shrine

Aippasi Thiruvonam September or October

Vaikunta Ekadasi December or January

Brahmotsavam March or April

Extra Information About this Shrine

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Kachabeshwarar Temple

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