01Vel irukkai
Vel is desire and irukkai a dwelling: Velirukkai, the place where the Lord wished to stay, became Velukkai. In the Kanchi katha of Brahma’s yajna, after the Lord had turned back every attack Saraswati sent, a last fierce one came, and Vishnu met it as Narahari, the man-lion. He stayed on as Azhagiya Singar, the beautiful lion, seated and facing west; temple tradition holds that he first stood facing east as he appeared to Maharshi Bhrigu. Vedanta Desika praised him as Kamasika Narasimha, the Narasimha who stays by his own wish, in the eight verses of the Kamasikashtakam.
02The temple
Pey Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar sing of Thiruvelukkai in four pasurams. The temple goes back to the Pallavas, and its walls carry three Chola inscriptions, one of Rajadhiraja Chola I and two of Kulothunga Chola I. It has three shrines, for Azhagiya Singar, for Velukkaivalli and for Garuda, within a granite wall that also holds two tanks, and a three-tiered rajagopuram at the entrance. It stands a few minutes’ walk from Ashtabhujakaram and Thiruthanka, the three sharing the katha of Brahma’s yajna with the Varadaraja and Yathothakari temples.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodPey Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar sing of Thiruvelukkai.
- Rajadhiraja Chola I (1018–54)A Chola inscription is cut on the temple.
- Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120)Two more inscriptions are added.
In Vishnu Kanchi, close to Ashtabhujakaram and Thiruthanka; the three can be seen in an hour.
