Soundararaja Perumal Temple, Nagapattinam…. The most beautiful, excellent, marvellous and wonderful Soundararaja perumal Temple is located in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. This temple is sanctified by the Alvar Saints in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, and it is one among the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. Here Lord Vishnu is worshiped as Soundararaja Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Soundaravalli.
The temple is believed to have been built by the Cholas during the 8th century AD. Soundararaja Perumal had given his divine darshan to Sage Markandeya, Dhruva, and Ma Bhudevi. The temple follows six daily rituals and three yearly festivals. The chariot festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March–April), is the most important festival of the temple.
The river flows near to this temple is called as Virutha Kaveri. The present day Nagapattinam was once a forest, which was named as Sundararinyam. Before starting his creation work, Lord Brahma, started worshiping Vishnu at this place. Vishnu is believed to have appeared on the auspicious day of Masi Maham on the banks of Sarapushkarani. Since Lord Vishnu had a glittering skin, he was called as “Soundara Rajan”, which means, the most beautiful and his consort was called as Soundaravalli(Charming Goddess). Since the king of Nagas (snakes), Adisesha worshipped Vishnu at this place, the place was called as Nagar Pattinam(Nagapattinam), the sacred place of Nagas.
The temple rituals are performed six times a day. During the Tamil month of Chittirai, the festival deity is taken in procession around the Mada street of the temple.
We can also sing some of the verses from the Holy Text Sri Nalayira Divya Prabhandam in the temple premises.
O my heart! The matchless god of the gods in the sky who has unlimited goodness never grows tired of protecting the world. Removing my ignorance he gave me abundant knowledge. Worship his shining feet that take away all sorrows. The ageless lord who is full of goodness and keeps Nānmuhan on a lotus on his chest removes the faults in your mind.
There is no limit to what he can think and he is not attracted by any feelings of the senses. Whatever happens does not affect him. He is in my soul and he is ageless. I approached the unique lord who is full of goodness, endless, omnipresent and formless. The earth and sky are his forms and no one knows what he has and what he does not have. I approached him and joined with him.
The omnipresent god is this man, that man, the man over there, this woman, that woman, the woman over there, this one, that one, this thing, that thing, these and those over there. Who is he? What is he? The god who is good and evil is our own.
People think variously, “This one is my god, that one is my god.” They will reach the feet of the god they choose according to their fate and he will give them all things that they want. He stands, sits, lies and wanders, does not stand, does not sit, does not lie and does not wander. No one knows what his nature is but he has only one nature and he is the mighty one.
The shining one is the Vedas, the wide sky, the mighty wind, water, earth, and all the things in the world. He hides himself in the bodies and lives of all creatures and is omnipresent.
The highest lord swallowed all the worlds and burned the three forts of his enemies. As Shiva he destroyed the world and he taught the Vedas to Nānmuhan and the gods. Even the gods in the sky wonder about his nature.
If one believes he exists, he exists. If one believes he has a form, he does. If one believes he has no form, he has none. He has both natures, “he is and he is not,” and he is omnipresent.
He pervades the water of the cool wide ocean, all the worlds, the vast sky and all the places that no one knows. He is hidden in everything that shines, the sun, moon and stars and he swallowed all of them and spat them out.
Saḍagopan of Thirukkuruhur composed a thousand pāsurams worshiping the feet of the lord
who is the sky, the strong wind, water, earth, the rainbow and the everlasting mountains. If devotees learn and recite these ten pāsurams they will reach moksha.
Give up all the desires that you have for earthly things and surrender your life to the god, the lord of moksha. That will take you to moksha.
Our earthly bodies will go away like lightning from the earth one day, and they come and go in a second. If you know this, you will only think of him, the everlasting one.
Give up utterly any desire that is for yourself or the things you own, and join and worship him. There is nothing equal or higher than he in life.
The things that are in the world and the things that are not in the world are his forms. Give up your desires, grasp his wonderful, matchless form and worship him. If you give up desire for worldly things you will reach moksha.
The only help that you should have in this world is the desire to join him. O my soul, give up all your desires, approach him and become one with the lord. He is in all things in the world
and does not have any desire. There is nothing without him. If you understand that all the things in the world are contained in him, you will realize that you yourself are in him and you will join him. Remove any desire from your mind, any desire to say something, any desire to do something. Join him and become one with him.
Removing your desires for this world, if you only think of him always when you live on this earth, when you leave your body you will join him.
Countless souls of the world unlimited in their knowledge and shining as a part of him will join the strong feet of the famous Nāraṇan.
Saḍagopan of southern Thirukkuruhur surrounded by beautiful ponds filled with water composed a thousand pāsurams and these are ten wonderful pāsurams among those.
The clever lord, the beloved of Lakshmi, stole butter that was churned by Yashoda and was so simple that he allowed Yashoda to punish him by tying him to a mortar. He is easy for his devotees to reach but hard for others to attain.
The everlasting faultless almighty who has no births removes the delusion of his devotees and gracefully gives them moksha. He stays in all hearts and is outside and inside of everything. He, the highest one and is easy for his devotees to reach, is the path of dharma,
the creator and the destroyer of the world, all the gods in the sky and all the creatures of the world. Who knows the māyā of Nāraṇan whose nature is excellent?
“OM SRI SOUNDARYANARAYANA NAMO NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R. HARISHANKAR