This little gem of a temple is tucked away in Mamallapuram (aka Mahabalipuram).
One of the 108 Divya Desams (most sacred place of Sri Maha Vishnu), Thurikadal Mallai is the 63rd of the revered list. Here reside Sri Sthala Sayana Perumal and NilaMangai Thayar (Bhoosthala Mangala Devi).
Oh! Its not a regular Perumal temple, as in Sri Maha Vishnu resting on Adisesha with Sri Lakshmi at his feet. He usually holds a lotus, a made,
The significance is evident in the name itself; Bhoo-Sthala-Sayana - which means, "sleeping on bare floor" - its a one of its kind temple, where Sri Maha Vishnu is resting in his traditional sleeping-posture on the floor, strangely with empty fore hands, while Sri Lakshmi is to his right and sage Pundareeka near His feet with folded arms. Its said to be the only divya-desam with Sri Vishnu with a lotus flower in his hand and an abhaya-hasta. I believe this is so, cause he hurried to meet Pundareeka Rishi and to assure him of His affection.
As with any ancient Hindu temple, there are legends associated with this temple as well.
Once upon a time, sage Pundareeka was performing penance to appease the Lord. Meanwhile, finding a beautiful lotus flower of 1,008 petals blooming at a pushkarini (holy water-tank), he desired to place it on the Lord's feet at Thiruparkadal (ocean of milk where the lord resides at Vaikuntham), before they wilt. He collected 1,008 of them and started on his journey.
On the way, he came across an ocean; undeterred, he started scooping out the water bowl by bowl, chanting the Lord's name Narayana, Narayana.... intending to dry the ocean of all water and clear his path to Vaikuntham. Thus toiling and not being successful in draining the ocean of water, an exasperated Sage Pundareeka exclaimed, O Lord! Will my resolve be unfulfilled, must I fail!"
As he opened his eyes, a frail old man stood in front of him and asked for food. The sage, torn between deep devotion to his Lord and compassion towards the old man, expressed his intent. The old man made fun of his foolhardiness in trying to drain out water from the ocean, instead of carrying on the penance. The Sage unable to bear this conversation decided to forage into the nearby forest and get something to eat. He requested the old man to hold the basket of flowers and continue to bail the water until he returns with some food. When he returned after some time, the exasperated Sage was shocked to see - a reclining Sri Maha Vishnu on the ground, wearing his lotuses as a garland! Thus the Lord pleased the devoted sage - by showing Himself as in Vaikuntham and also accepting the flowers intended for Him.
Therefore, it is said that worshiping the Lord at this temple is equivalent to offering prayers at His abode, Vaikuntham. All traditional Vsishnavaite rituals and pujas are performed here.
This place is also said to be the birth place of Boodatha Alwar (a Vaishnavaite saint of 7th century) He and Thirumangai Alwar had sang hymns in reverence to this temple in the Nalayira divya prabandham (a Tamil religious text of 6-9th century), and also mentioned of ships carrying gold and gems at Kadal Mallai (referring to the Bay of Bengal).
The temple is part of the 32 UNESCO recognised world heritage monuments at Mahabalipuram.
In order to depict the sacred story, the Pallava King Rajasimhan built this temple in 9th century, along with four other temples. During 14th century, the Vijayanagara King Parankusan had shifted it to its current location in the heart of Mahabalipuram, since by then other 3 temples were washed away by the sea. Later the Chola kings and Madurai Nayaks also contributed to this beautiful Dravidian style architecture.
Therefore, though the Pallava king built this temple. it doesn't appear like the other more famous monolithic Shore temples around.
As with other south-Indian temples, there are various sculpted figurines that adorn the walls and gopuram of this pious temple, and these make the visit even wholesome.
One of the 108 Divya Desams (most sacred place of Sri Maha Vishnu), Thurikadal Mallai is the 63rd of the revered list. Here reside Sri Sthala Sayana Perumal and NilaMangai Thayar (Bhoosthala Mangala Devi).
Oh! Its not a regular Perumal temple, as in Sri Maha Vishnu resting on Adisesha with Sri Lakshmi at his feet. He usually holds a lotus, a made,
The significance is evident in the name itself; Bhoo-Sthala-Sayana - which means, "sleeping on bare floor" - its a one of its kind temple, where Sri Maha Vishnu is resting in his traditional sleeping-posture on the floor, strangely with empty fore hands, while Sri Lakshmi is to his right and sage Pundareeka near His feet with folded arms. Its said to be the only divya-desam with Sri Vishnu with a lotus flower in his hand and an abhaya-hasta. I believe this is so, cause he hurried to meet Pundareeka Rishi and to assure him of His affection.
As with any ancient Hindu temple, there are legends associated with this temple as well.
Once upon a time, sage Pundareeka was performing penance to appease the Lord. Meanwhile, finding a beautiful lotus flower of 1,008 petals blooming at a pushkarini (holy water-tank), he desired to place it on the Lord's feet at Thiruparkadal (ocean of milk where the lord resides at Vaikuntham), before they wilt. He collected 1,008 of them and started on his journey.
On the way, he came across an ocean; undeterred, he started scooping out the water bowl by bowl, chanting the Lord's name Narayana, Narayana.... intending to dry the ocean of all water and clear his path to Vaikuntham. Thus toiling and not being successful in draining the ocean of water, an exasperated Sage Pundareeka exclaimed, O Lord! Will my resolve be unfulfilled, must I fail!"
As he opened his eyes, a frail old man stood in front of him and asked for food. The sage, torn between deep devotion to his Lord and compassion towards the old man, expressed his intent. The old man made fun of his foolhardiness in trying to drain out water from the ocean, instead of carrying on the penance. The Sage unable to bear this conversation decided to forage into the nearby forest and get something to eat. He requested the old man to hold the basket of flowers and continue to bail the water until he returns with some food. When he returned after some time, the exasperated Sage was shocked to see - a reclining Sri Maha Vishnu on the ground, wearing his lotuses as a garland! Thus the Lord pleased the devoted sage - by showing Himself as in Vaikuntham and also accepting the flowers intended for Him.
Therefore, it is said that worshiping the Lord at this temple is equivalent to offering prayers at His abode, Vaikuntham. All traditional Vsishnavaite rituals and pujas are performed here.
This place is also said to be the birth place of Boodatha Alwar (a Vaishnavaite saint of 7th century) He and Thirumangai Alwar had sang hymns in reverence to this temple in the Nalayira divya prabandham (a Tamil religious text of 6-9th century), and also mentioned of ships carrying gold and gems at Kadal Mallai (referring to the Bay of Bengal).
The temple is part of the 32 UNESCO recognised world heritage monuments at Mahabalipuram.In order to depict the sacred story, the Pallava King Rajasimhan built this temple in 9th century, along with four other temples. During 14th century, the Vijayanagara King Parankusan had shifted it to its current location in the heart of Mahabalipuram, since by then other 3 temples were washed away by the sea. Later the Chola kings and Madurai Nayaks also contributed to this beautiful Dravidian style architecture.
Therefore, though the Pallava king built this temple. it doesn't appear like the other more famous monolithic Shore temples around.As with other south-Indian temples, there are various sculpted figurines that adorn the walls and gopuram of this pious temple, and these make the visit even wholesome.
