Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ennai Petra Thaayar!

Bhakthavatsala Perumal Temple, Thiruninravur

Bhakthavatsala Perumal Temple at Thiruninravur, near Chennai is one of the 108 Divya Desams. Here the Goddess has a unique name" Ennai Petra Thaayar" (mother who gave birth to me)! How did she get that name?

Lord Samudrarajan (King of the Ocean) was longing for a child and his deep desire was that Goddess Mahalakshmi should be born as his daughter. He prayed to her for many years after which the Goddess appeared before him and granted his wish.

On one fine day, he found a beautiful girl child in the middle of a lotus flower in the ocean. Ecstatic he exclaimed " Ennai Petra Thaaye" (Mother who gave birth to me!). The child was named Ennai Petra Thaayar by which she is known till date.

The place itself derives its name from Goddess Mahalakshmi - Thiru means Lakshmi and Ninravur is the place where she stays forever.

The little girl grew up into a beautiful young lady and it was time to get her married. But Samudrarajan was not willing to part with his daughter whom he had got after praying for so many years and so when Sriman Narayana came asking for her hand in marriage, he laid a condition that he should become "Veetoda Mappillai" (Ghar Jamaai) and stay in the in-laws house for which the Lord agreed. As it is her house, the Goddess gets all the pooja and Saathupadi first, after which it is the Lord's turn.

The seven feet Bhaktavatsala perumal is a delight to watch. In Kalyana Thirukolam (wedding attire), and with the words " Maam Ekam Charanam Vraja" (Take refuge in me alone) written on his right hand (Incidentally the only other lord who has this inscription on his hand is Lord Uppiliappan in Kumbakonam), and a welcoming smile, you can keep looking at him all day long.

The Divya Desams are those where the Azhwars visited and sung hymns in praise of the Lord. When Tirumangaiazhwar came to Tiruninravur he did not sing any paasuram about Bhakthavatsala perumal. He then went to Tirukkadalmallai (Mamallapuram) to worship Sthalasayana Perumal.

Bhakthavatsala, anxious for his devotee to sing about him, appeared to the Azhwar in Tirukkadalmallai as Bhakthavatsala Perumal and it is there that the pasuram about Tiruninravur was sung! Such was the relationship between the Lord and his beloved devotee !!


Coming to the picture above, this is a unique feature of the Tiruninravur temple. As the name suggests, this is the temple for wealth, prosperity and all the Aishwaryams in the world. There is a matrix drawn in front of the Ennai Petra Thaayar Sannathi as you see in the picture, which has specific numbers. By drawing this matrix in your pooja room and placing one rupee coins on each of the squares, and praying for nine days, your wishes are granted.



Procedure for Pooja:

The Yantra is drawn in the pooja room on a flat surface using Kolam Powder. Stickers are also available in the temple if one wishes to use it. Pooja is done for nine days by placing one rupee coins in each of the boxes, applying sandal paste and Kumkum on them, and flowers as well. The coins of the previous day are then removed and stored safely and new one rupee coins are used the next day. Once the nine days of pooja
is complete, (it is preferable to start the pooja on a friday or new moon day) the 81 coins along with Thambulam for nine sumangalis is taken to the temple. The battar places the coins at the Thaayaar's feet and performs archana. The first Thambulam is then give to the Goddess. After that, he gives the coins back to the devotee who then deposits the coins in the Hundi outside the shrine. The remaining thambulams are given to other women in the temple.

I have tried it myself and it really works:)

27 comments:

  1. Wonderful reviews about the temples, its very helpful during my visit

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  2. Thankyou - I was born in Tiruninravur and have visited both the Perumal and Shiva temples many many times....but your crisp write up thrilled me about my birth place.

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  3. Thank you for your feedback ....I hope you also enjoy reading about the Hridayaleeswarar temple at Tiruninravur featured in the same blog!

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  4. PRIYA MADAM.... I WISH YOUR FUTURE WORK OF RELATES TO TEMPLE... BECAUSE I AM VERY MUCH HAPPY ABOUT SEEING YOUR PICTURES.....

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  5. Thank you so much for your wishes
    Regards
    Priya

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  6. I have done this yantra-prayer to Ennai Petra Thayaar & found it very effective....Nalini

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  7. Priya Madam ,

    Could you please update regarding the puja procedure to be followed by drawing the yantra at home .

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  8. The yantra is drawn in the pooja room on a flat surface using kolam powder. Stickers are also available at the temple if one wishes to use that. The pooja has to be done for nine days by placing one rupee coins in each of the boxes, applying sandal paste and kumkum on them, and placing flowers on each of the boxes. The coins of the previous day is removed and stored safely and new coins are used the next day. Once the 9 days pooja is completed (the pooja can start on a friday/new moon day) the 81 coins along with vethalai pakku for 9 sumangalis is taken to the temple. The battar places the coins at the Thaayar's feet and performs archana.He then returns the coins which can be deposited in the Hundi outside the shrine. The first out of the 9 thambulams is given to the thaayar and the remaining to women in the temple. This completes the pooja.
    Good luck
    Priya

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  9. Priya mam,

    Thank you for all the details which will make a lot of difference during our temple visits , especially for people who dont know the local language.
    I have a small doubt the yantra puja mentioned above. Should we visit the temple immediately after the nine weeks pooja is completed or after our prayers have been answered ?

    Thank you.

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    1. In my experience I have found that the prayers get answered by the time the nine week pooja is over. It is recommended to visit once the puja is complete but for some reason if you cannot then at the earliest convenience would be fine.

      Warm regards, Priya

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  10. Very interesting and nice post. Thanks for the same.

    Siva

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  11. hi.. i have one doubt. its nine continuous days or nine fridays. please clarify..

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  12. mam. i started this pooja but due to some reasons lf i couldnt do continuous 9 days so i should discontinue this or i can continue after those days.

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  13. You can start again after the disruption.

    Regards
    Priya

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    Replies
    1. Sorry mam.. i have to start freshly or i can continue after those obstacles..

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. Hi Priya mam,

    I am blessed to be born on the hallowed soils of Thiruninravur. Bhakthavatchala perumal koil is the 58th kshetram of the 108 dhivya-desams. As you have mentioned, opposite to this temple is Hridayeeswarar temple,another divine location in thiruninravur. Many ppl miss 'yeri kaatha raamar' kovil, behind the perumal temple. The ramar here is 'huge' in appearance and the tranquility of the place is just unimaginable. try to visit next time. i have not browsed all the pages of this website, but would suggest to publish about 'vedha narayanaswamy temple' in Nagalapuram, near uthukotai. thanks for the commendable work you are doing. keep going..

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  15. Thanks for the excellent article. Thiruninravur a suburb of chennai is blessed with both the Hridayaleswarar temple and also grand Bakthavatsala perumal temple together at a very short distance from one another. Both the temples are ancient enough to be preserved and songs and hymns were written on both the templed by ancient priests and poets. The place around the temple also resembles ancient village even today. Thank You.

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  16. Vanakam Priya sister,

    I am unable to view the kolam pattern i shud draw.
    Kindly repost or email me if can plz.

    mlganeshkumar@gmail.com

    Nandri

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    1. Apologies. I have now reuploaded the image. Hope you are able to see it better now. I am sorry I only got a web image and do not have the photograph I took when I visited the temple as it has been many years. Will try to visit soon and post a better picture. Regards Priya

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    2. Altho it is blur a bit .. the best part is
      i have something to see now sister .. rombe nandri ...

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  17. Thankyou Mam I have heard about the temple but your information gives detail information and procedure about the pooja.

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  18. You have forgotten to add one more detail about this temple ma'am. This is the only divya desa temple which has an individual sannithi for the lord Aadhiseshan

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  19. Enai petrathayare namaha bhaktvatsal perumale namaha

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