Thiruvallarai Pundarikasha Perumal temple

Thiruvallarai Pundarikasha Perumal temple

Thiruvallarai is famous because of the beautiful temple of Pundarikasha Perumal.      The temple is at a good distance of a kilometre from the bus stand in the main road, that is connecting Mannachanallur and Thuraiyur.       Town buses with no.27B, from Trichy chathiram bus stand go to this temple itself.       Frequencies may force people to take up long distance buses and some of these operators do not take in passengers going to Thiruvallarai.     Vellarai means white stone and the temple is atop of a very small hillock and the colour of the hill is white.  Hence the place is called Vellarai.     This can also be reached from Thirupangneeli side.   The picture below shows the road leading to the temple and temple's dilapidated Gopuram.

   

Thiruvallarai is approximately 27 kms from Tiruchy and can be reached via Mannachanallur.    This temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams and supposed to be 4 yugas old.     Once Markandeya Rishi was in Penance at this place when Maharaja Sibi Chakravarty came with his warriors and put up tents and stayed here.   Once a white boar (Swetha Varaham) crossed and the raja chased it and it entered into a hole.      When the Raja told this to Markandeya Rishi, he asked the Raja to perform Milk Abhisekha to the hole.   While performing the Milk abisheka to the hole, Lord Vishnu appeared from the hole.   Markendeya Maharishi asked the Raja to bring in 3700 Vaishnavites from the north and build a temple here.   Raja Sibi Chakravarty followed what Markendeya Rishi said.    But as he was building the temple, one of the vaishnavites among 3700 died, and Vishnu himself came as a vaishnavite and asked the worrying Raja to count him, to have the desired number.   A closer look of the dilapidated entry Gopuram is in the following photo.

Efforts are on to renovate the temple and attend to it, by the devotees.     The Moolavar of this sthalam is Pundarikashan and Thayar is Shenbagavalli.      Urchava thayar is known as Pankajavalli.      The lord have prathyaksha darisanam to Garudan, Brahma, Sivan, Markandeya Maharishi and Sibi Chakravarty.      The temple has the Sudhai images on the wall of Pundarikashan, Sridevi, Bhooma Devi, Surya, Chandra and Adiseshan.  There are sannidhis for Krishnan and Anjaneya also.     The Lord is in Nindra kolam here.     There are 2 entries of Uttarayana and Dakshinayana vasals to the sanctorium.    The temple has 7 theerthams.