01The butter image
Maharshi Vasishtha worshipped Krishna in an image he shaped from butter, and so pure was his devotion that it never melted. One day Krishna himself came as a child, ate the image and ran. Vasishtha ran after him, and the child ran here, where a gathering of rishis sat in tapas. Seeing them, Krishna let himself be held by their love, and when they asked him to stay and give darshan to all who came, he agreed. The sthala purana also says Maharshi Gautama worshipped here.
02The temple
Thirumangai Alvar sings of Thirukkannangudi in a decad of ten pasurams. The Perumal stands facing east, reached through the flag post, the Mukha mandapam and the Ardha mandapam, with Lokanayaki’s shrine and the other deities in the first and second prakarams. A granite wall encloses the shrines and tanks, and the five-tiered rajagopuram looks over the paddy fields of the delta. Like Thirukkannapuram, Thirukkannamangai, Kapisthalam and Tirukkoyilur, it is one of the five Krishnaranya Kshetrams, named for Kannan.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodThirumangai Alvar sings a decad on Thirukkannangudi.
About 8 km west of Nagapattinam, near Sikkal on the Tiruvarur side. Combine with Nagapattinam’s Soundararaja Perumal and Thirukkannapuram.
