01The balance and the bow
The temple’s katha says the sage Suprabha was ploughing ground for a yajna when he struck a balance and a bow. When he lifted them they became a man and a woman, freed from a curse of Kubera. His yajna pleased the devas, and Vishnu came with them as Devapiran, Lord of the devas. Walking by a lotus pond, the sage found the Lord following him, and asked him to stay as Aravindalochana, the lotus-eyed. The Ashvini twins are also said to have prayed here and bathed in the Ashvini tirtha.
02Nammalvar’s love-song
Nammalvar sang Tholaivillimangalam in a decad of the Thiruvaimozhi, eleven pasurams, in the voice of a mother whose daughter has lost her heart to the Lord of this village and can speak of nothing else. The two temples share one wall, with flat gateways; inscriptions show them among the Pandya foundations of the Thamirabarani later extended by the Madurai Nayakas. The Navagraha reckoning gives Devapiran to Rahu and Aravindalochanar to Ketu.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodNammalvar sings Tholaivillimangalam in the Thiruvaimozhi.
About 3 km from Alwarthirunagari across the Thamirabarani; the road is narrow, so go by auto or car.
