Pandava Thootha Perumal temple in Kanchipuram – A Must Visit Temple for Rohini Starers !!
Rohini Nakshathira! As we all know this is the birth Star of Lord Krishna. So guess what sort of temple would be auspicious for Rohini Starers !! Yes, you guessed it right! It’s a temple that is dedicated to Lord Krishna. Come, let’s explore about the temple that is considered as a Must Visit temple for the people who are born on Rohini Nakshathira.
Rukmini Sametha PandavaThootha Perumal temple (Thirupadagam) is a famous Krishna temple located in Kanchipuram. This is considered as one of the 108 Divya Desams. This temple is praised in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandam by the Vaishnava saints Bhoodhazhwar, Peyazhwar, Thirumazhisai Azhwar and Thirumangai Azhwar. The special feature of this temple is that the main deity Lord Krishna is almost 25 feet tall and is in the sitting position. This is considered as the tallest deity of Perumal in the sitting position. The Lord is seen with a beautiful smile on His face and seated in an Ardha-Padmasana (Half Padmasana) posture with His right leg bent and His left leg placed in front. His right hand indicates protection (Abhaya Mudra) and His left-hand showers blessings (Varada Mudra). The temple is believed to have built by the Pallavas in the 8th Century AD. Later it was renovated by the king Kulothunga Chola I during the 11th Century.
The Sthala Purana of the temple is very interesting and is closely related to the epic Mahabharata. As we all know, Yudishtra lost everything to Duryodhana in the game of Gambling. At the end of the game, it was decided that the Pandavas can get back their share after 13 years of exile including one year of incognito. Once the Pandavas were back after completing all the conditions, Duryodhana was not ready to give their share claiming that their incognito was not fulfilled properly. In order to ensure peace and to avoid quarrel among the brothers, Lord Krishna decided to take up the role of peacemaker. So he proceeded to Duryodhana’s court on behalf of the Pandavas. But Duryodhana had planned to kill Krishna while he was in Hastinapura. He dug a deep pit and topped it with Bamboo sticks. Then he covered the pit with carpet and a grand chair studded with gems. He also placed a few of his wrestlers inside the pit. Once Krishna entered the court, He sat on that special chair that was prepared for Him. As an avatar of Lord Vishnu, He already knew about the Pit that was set up for Him. He just pressed the stage with his Little Toe and sent it crashing below. He then displayed His Vishwaroopam (A giant form of the Lord) to all court men and even to the blind King Dhritarashtra. With the grace of the Lord, Dhritarashtra got his vision back but he requested the Lord to make Him Blind again since he did not want to see anything else in this world after seeing the Vishwaroopam. Lord Krishna then warned the Kauravas of the consequences. Since the Lord came to the Kauravas court as an Ambassador of Peace from the Pandava’s side, he is known as Pandava Thoothar.
After the great war of Kurukshetra, Arjuna’s grandson Janamejaya came to the throne and listened to this Mahabharata story through Acharya Vysampayana. After listening to this episode of Vishwaroopam, Janamejaya had a desire to see that Darshan of Lord again. As per the advice of the Acharya, He came to this place in Kanchipuram and performed a deep penance on Lord Krishna. Being moved by the Tapas of Janamejaya, Lord Krishna graced him with the Vishwaroopa darshan in the same way as he had given in the Mahabharata story. So the Perumal in this temple is known as ‘Pandava Thootha Perumal’. This temple is also referred to as a Thirupadagam. Pada means Big and Agam means residence. Hence Thirupadagam is a place where the Lord Vishnu resides in a Giant Form.
The main deity of Lord Krishna faces the East and the tower is called Badhra Vimana. The shrine of the Goddess Rukmini is found facing the South. We also have other shrines of Chakarathazhwar and Lord Narasimhar behind the main deity. The holy temple tank is called the Matsya Theertham and it is located on the Northeastern side.
It is strongly believed that people who are born in Rohini Nakshathira will be able to overcome any sort of problems and difficulties in their lives if they pray the Lord Pandava Thootha Perumal in this temple. As said above, this is the temple where Lord Krishna is seen in the sitting position with His Left Leg touching the floor. This is called Vishwapadayoga meaning ‘Showering the blessings by pressing His Feet on earth’. So, it is strongly believed that by coming around this temple either through Adipradakshina (Step by step method) or by Angapradakshina (Rolling over the ground and touching the earth with all parts of the body) would help the Rohini Starers in making all the 72,000 veins healthy and making them resistant to any sort of infections.
It is very auspicious to visit this temple on Wednesdays, Saturdays and on Rohini Star Days. It is strongly believed that the Lord Krishna here will protect His devotees who pray with great devotion and belief, just in the way He protected the Pandavas.
