Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane

Temples of South India | Sri Parthasarathy - Triplicane Chennai

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• published: 29 Sep 2015
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Triplicane owes its name to its historic existence as Tiruvallikeni (or Thiruvallikeni) or Tiru-Alli-Keni (Sacred Lily Pond, in Tamil) denoting the pond in front of the temple, amidst a big Tulasi forest. The place was also referred to as Vrundha-ranyam (beautiful garden) in Puranic scriptures. Krishna was the charioteer for the Pandava prince Arjuna during the Kurukshetra War in the epic Mahabaratha. Kunti (also called Pritha), Arjuna's mother was the aunt of Krishna and the sister of Krishna's father, Vasudeva. Krishna addressed Arjuna as Partha, the son of Pritha. Krishna was thus referred as Partha Sarthy, meaning the charioteer of Arjuna.The Bhagavat Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place in the middle of the battlefield before the start of the war with armies on both sides ready to battle. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma about fighting his own cousins who command a tyranny imposed on a disputed empire, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, and elaborates on yoga, Samkhya, reincarnation, moksha, karma yoga and jnana yoga among other topics. Krishna was neutral during the war, giving his army to Kauravas and offered himself for the Pandavas. Parthasarathy in the temple is thus depicted with a moustache and having only the conch, without his weapon Chakra. This is attributed to the promise he made to the Kauravas not to take weapons during the war. Following the traditions of a charioteer, he sported the moustache and the same is depicted in the temple. The scars in the face of Parthasarathy's festival idol (presumably made of aimpon, an alloy of five metals) in the temple is full of scars depicted to show the injuries caused by the arrows of Bhishma in the war. The utsavar (festival deity) also has only a stick depicting Krishna was born in a cowherd clan. Venkateswara, another form of Vishnu, appeared as Parthasarathy to fulfil his promise to King Sumathi that he would give darshan to the king in this form. Sage Athreya had installed the idol of Parthasarathy. Legend has it that the parents of the Sri Vaishnava saint, Ramanuja came to the temple and prayed to the Lord for a son and eventually the saint was born. It is also believed that the Ramanuja is none other than Parthasarathy himself who was born to revive Vishishtadvaita. Vedavalli Thayar is said to be born to Sage Bhrigu as a result of his penance in the banks of Kairaveni in a lily pond (Alli keni). The legend says, that so many kings attempted to marry Thayar, but she chose Ranganatha in the midst of many kings and called the lord vaarum en manare, means "Welcome, my lord of this universe". The celestial wedding took place between Vedavalli Thayar and Sri Mannanathar on 12th Day (Dwadashi) during the month of Thai - Masi. The wedding is celebrated every year. Vaikasi Festival is exclusively held of the presiding deity Gajendra Varadhar. It is said that Rama appeared here on the request by Sage Madhuman in Thirvallikeni. A grand festival of Rama Navami is celebrated here for 9 days in the Tamil month of Panguni. © DG Times India