01Three strides
The Bhagavata Purana tells how Vishnu came as Vamana, a dwarf brahmachari, to the yajna of the asura king Mahabali and asked for three steps of land. The gift granted, he grew to fill the cosmos, took the earth in one stride and the heavens in the second, and for the third Bali offered his own head. In this sanctum Ulagalanthar, the measurer of the world, stands with his left leg lifted high and two fingers of one hand raised, asking where the third step should go. The murti is so tall that darshan of the face is taken by the light of a lamp held up by the priest.
02Four Divya Desams in one
Inside the same walls are three more Divya Desams, each with its own small shrine: Thiru Neeragam, Thiru Karagam and Thiru Karvaanam, besides Thiru Ooragam, which is Ulagalanthar himself. Thirumangai Alvar sang them. The temple stands in the heart of Kanchipuram, close to the Kamakshi Amman temple, in the town the Alvars and Nayanmars both called a city of temples.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodThirumangai Alvar sings Thiru Ooragam and the three shrines within.
- Chola periodThe temple is rebuilt in stone and endowed under the Cholas.
Near the Kamakshi Amman temple in Kanchipuram, which can be seen on the same walk.
