01The little reclining Lord
Shiva sent the tiger-footed sage Vyaghrapada to Srirangam to pray to Vishnu for a place in Vaikuntha, and Patanjali went with him. Old and dim of sight, they lost their way and came south to Kripasamudram, this place, and prayed here instead that the Lord would come to them. He came as Ranganatha, but the great form was too large for their failing eyes, so he lay down again in a small form, bala sayanam, a child at rest. Siru, small; puli, the tiger, for Vyaghrapada; ur, the place. He faces south here, as he does at Srirangam. The temple katha adds that after a quarrel with Adisesha, Garuda will not fly over this place.
02Thirumangai’s decad
Thirumangai Alvar sings of Thirusirupuliyur in a decad of ten pasurams, calling the Lord Arulmakadal, the great ocean of grace, which in Sanskrit is Kripasamudra. Because Adisesha took refuge here, the tank is linked with relief from naga dosha, and devotees come praying for marriage and for children. The temple is small, a single prakaram among the fields, near Kollumangudi on the Mayiladuthurai–Tiruvarur line. Of the reclining forms of Vishnu among the Divya Desams, only this one and Srirangam face south.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodThirumangai Alvar sings a decad on Thirusirupuliyur.
About 3 km from Kollumangudi station, between Mayiladuthurai and Tiruvarur. Hours are short; go in the morning.
