01Three hundred and sixty brides
The Puranas tell of Hiranyaksha dragging the earth into the cosmic waters and of Vishnu taking the form of the boar to fight him and raise her on his tusks. At Thiruvidanthai the temple adds its own katha. The sage Kalava had three hundred and sixty daughters, all set on marrying the Lord. He married one each day for a year, and on the last day joined them all into one, Komalavalli. The granite image, about seven feet tall, shows Varaha with Bhudevi seated on his left thigh.
02A Pallava port temple
Thiruvidanthai and Mamallapuram were Pallava ports, and the temple belongs to that coast. The earliest dated record is of the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III in 959 CE, giving a lamp. Chola records follow, one of Rajadhiraja I’s thirty-fifth year, others of Kulottunga I; Pandya gifts came later. The temple is an ASI-protected monument and owns an ivory palanquin. Thirumangai Alvar sang it in a decad of the Periya Thirumozhi, thirteen pasurams in all. Chittirai Brahmotsavam and Vaikuntha Ekadashi are the great days.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodThirumangai Alvar sings Thiruvidanthai in the Periya Thirumozhi.
- 959 CEAn inscription of the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III records the gift of a lamp.
- c. 1052 CEA record of Rajadhiraja Chola I’s thirty-fifth year is cut in the temple.
On the East Coast Road about 40 km south of Chennai and 15 km north of Mamallapuram, near Kovalam.
