01Ranganatha at Nangur
Among the eleven Perumals of Thirunangur one lies down, and he is this one. The temple katha says that when Shiva asked Vishnu to take eleven forms here, Ranganatha came from Srirangam to be one of them, and Ananta, Adisesha himself, worshipped him. So he is Pallikonda Perumal, the Lord who reclines, and Senganmal, the red-eyed Lord, as Thirumangai Alvar calls him; the people of Nangur also say Lakshmiranganathar. He lies on the serpent in bhujanga sayanam, four-armed, facing east. Ambalam is an old word for a hall or temple, and the Alvar uses it for this shrine.
02The temple
Thirumangai Alvar sings of Thetriyambalam in a decad of ten pasurams. The temple has a single prakaram with two shrines inside a compound wall: the Perumal’s, and beside it, parallel and facing east, the Thayar’s. Both Rama and Krishna are among its festival images. On Thai Amavasai the festival Perumal goes out on Garuda with the other ten of Thirunangur, and the Alvar’s verses for this temple are recited before him.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodThirumangai Alvar sings a decad on Thetriyambalam.
In the Thirunangur group, about 8 km east of Sirkazhi on the Thiruvenkadu road.
