About the Temple & Location:
This is one of the Divyadesams found in Big Kanchipuram. Route: It is 1/2 miles from Kanchipuram Railway Station.
Sthlapuranam :
Veerochana King, who ruled Vaitherpa desam doesn’t have any children. So he prayed to God Kailasanathar in Kanchipuram. After that, two boy children named Pallavan and Vallavan were born. These two children are said to be the “Dwara Balagars” (A kind of devoted Gate Keepers, of Sriman Narayanan and can be on either side in the entrance of Moolavar Sannadhi).
When these two were doing Ashwametha Yagnam for Punniyakoti vimanamat Vaayu end, Perumal Sri Emperumaan gave his Seva in Irundha thirukkolam. He gave his seva as “Paramapadha – Sri Vaikundanathan”. Because of this, the sthalam is said as “Vaikunda Perumal Koil”.
This sthalam also tells us how the Vaishnava and Saivam relationship should be treated. Veerochana king worshipped Lord shiva for the child, but it was the Vishnu Bhakta who was born. So, it clearly tells that there should be no fights (or) misunderstanding between the caste, and all the Gods are said to be treated as a single one.
The Vimanam of the temple is Ashtanga Vimanam. In the ground level (Nilai), Sriman Narayanan gives Seva in Irundha Kolam, in the middle Nila, he gives Seva in Kidantha kolam, and in the top Nilai, he gives Seva in Nindra Kolam and there are no poojas done for him.
History
As per Dr. Hultzh, Parameswara Vinnagaram was constructed by the Pallava King Nandivarman II in 690 CE, while other scholars place it in the late 8th century. Nandivarman Pallavamallan was a worshipper of Vishnu and a great patron of learning. He renovated old temples and built several new ones. Among the latter was the Parameswara Vinnagaram or the Vaikunta Perumal temple at Kanchipuram which contains inscribed panels of sculpture portraying the events leading up to the accession of Nandivarman Pallavamalla to the throne. The great Vaishnava saint Thirumangai Alvar was his contemporary. There are various inscriptions in the temple that detail the socio-economic and political situation of the country during the Pallavan regime. Around the sanctum sanctorum in the first precinct, there is an inscription dated to the 8th century which records the gift of a bowl and an image made of gold measuring 1,000 sovereigns by king Abhimanasiddhi. During the period of Dantivarman I in 813, there was a gift of a golden bowl weighing ten thousand kalanju. There was another gift of 3,000 kalanju of gold to meet the daily expenses of the temple. A record of the gift of a devotee named Thiruvaranga Manickam to feed devotees of Vishnu is also seen in the temple. The temple is believed to have been constructed a few years after the construction of Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple. The bas reliefs in the temple reveal the war between the Pallavas and Gangas and also with Chalukyas.
Paramesvara Vinnagaram is the earliest specimen of Dravidian architecture. The temple has a rectangular plan and is approached through a flat granite gateway tower. The vimana has a stepped pyramidal roof and it resembles a Vihara. Three sanctuaries host the image of Vishnu in different postures - seated (ground floor), lying (first floor; accessible to devotees only on Ekadashi days), and standing (second floor; inaccessible to devotees). The logical and complex plan of the temple provided a prototype for the much larger shrines to be constructed all over Tamil Nadu. The external cloisters, with their lion pillars, are predecessors of the grand thousand pillared halls of later temples. In modern times, the four lions have been replaced with Garuda (image of eagle mount of Vishnu).
The cloister walls have a sequence of relief sculptures depicting the history of the Pallava dynasty. The first set of panels shows the supposedly divine lineage of the Pallavas starting from Brahma, followed by Angiras (sage), Bṛhaspati, Bharadwaja, Drona, and Ashwatthama. These panels are followed by panels depicting the actual Pallava kings themselves. A typical panel shows the king on the left frame of the panel. In some cases, the coronation of the king is shown as can be seen by priests pouring sacred water on his head. The right side of the panel shows battle scenes or other events during that monarch's reign. The panels of Mahendravarman I and Narasimhavarman I show the battles with Pulakesin II of the Badami Chalukyas. Finally, there are panels that show the search and the finding of a successor after Paramesvaravarman II's early death. The successor is none other than Nandivarman II, who built this temple.
The niches on the walls around the sanctum are similar to the ones in Mahabalipuram. Some of the sculptures indicate various legends of Mahabaratha depicting the image of Dharmaraja, Arjuna, and Bhima. The temple is built of granite with a mixture of sandstone. The three-storied temple is the forerunner for various later built temples like Vaikunta Perumal temple at Uthiramerur, Koodal Azhagar temple at Madurai, and Rajagopalaswamy temple at Mannargudi. The three stories are achieved with three concentric squares with a small passage in between with the top layer being closed by a filial.
Festivals and religious practices
The temple follows Vaikasana Agama. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day: Ushathkalam at 7:30 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 6:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 7:30 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering), and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Vaikuntanathan and Vaikundavalli. During the last step of worship, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The Vaikasi Brahmotsavam, celebrated during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May–June), and Vaikunta Ekadashi celebrated during the Tamil month of Margazhi (December–January) are the two major festivals celebrated in the temple. Verses from Nalayira Divya Prabandham are recited by a group of temple priests amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument).
Culture
This temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon by Thirumangai Alvar in ten hymns. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the Vaishnava canon. The temple is one of the fourteen Divyadesams in Kanchipuram and is part of Vishnu Kanchi, the place where most of the Vishnu temples in Kanchipuram are located. The temple is also revered in the verses of Divyakavi Pillai Perumal Iyengar.
The temple is declared as a heritage monument and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India as a protected monument.
The Moolavar of this sthalam is Sri Paramapatha Nathan. Also called “Vaikunthanathan“.
Moolavar is in a sitting position facing west direction. Prathyaksham for Pallava King.
Thaayar : Vaikuntha valli. Seperate sannathi for Thaayar.
Mangalasasanam:
Thirumangai Alwar – 10 Pasurams.
Total – 1
Pushkarani:
Irammatha Theertham.
Virajaa Theertham.
Irammatha Theertham.
Virajaa Theertham.
Vimanam:
Mukuntha Vimaanam (Ashtanga Vimana style) This temple was constructed by Parameshwara Varman (Vaiyiramegan), son of Raja Simha Pallavan.
There are 3 partitions in this temple in Astaanga Vimaana style.
Bottom Floor – Emperumaan in standing thirukkolam.
Middle Floor – Periya Pirattiyar and Bhoomi Piratiyar in Kidantha Thirukolam.
Top Floor – Nindra Thirukkolam no pooja for them.
