01Light against darkness
In the Kanchi katha of Brahma’s ashvamedha, Saraswati, angry at being left out, sent darkness over the world to stop the yajna. Vishnu stood up as a light, ‘like a lamp’, and the darkness broke. So he is Deepaprakasar, and in Tamil Vilakkoli Perumal, the Lord who is the lamp’s light. Thanka, the cool garden, was the old name; Thooppul, the grove of darbha grass, is the name of the quarter. Thirumangai Alvar sings of Thiruthanka in two pasurams. The temple keeps the Vaikhanasa Agama, and the tank, Saraswati Theertham, lies outside the walls.
02Desika’s birthplace
Vedanta Desika was born at Thooppul in 1268 and lived to 1369. His devotion to this Perumal runs through the Saranagati Deepika, and the temple has a south-facing shrine for him, his image showing the abhaya mudra, installed by tradition by his son Nainar Varadacharya, with the Hayagriva he worshipped beside him. In the Tamil month of Purattasi the Desika shrine holds its Brahmotsavam, and the festival image of Desika is carried to the Varadaraja Perumal temple; in Vaikasi, during the Varadaraja Brahmotsavam, Varadaraja comes to Desika’s shrine on three days. An inscription of Rajaraja Chola III of 1223 is on the walls.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodThirumangai Alvar sings of Thiruthanka.
- 1223An inscription of Rajaraja Chola III is cut on the temple.
- 1268Vedanta Desika is born at Thooppul.
In Vishnu Kanchi near Ashtabhujakaram and Thiruvelukkai. Come in Purattasi for the Desika Brahmotsavam.
