Sri Veetrirundha Perumal Temple / Sri Veetriruntha Perumal Temple, Veppathur near Thiruvidaimaruthur, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu.

27^th July 2019.

The Visit to this Veppathur Veetrirundha Perumal Temple was a part of the Kumbakonam Heritage walk organized by “Yaaooyakay” – யாஊயாகே and "Celebrate Kanchi" on 27^th and 28^th July 2019.  In this walk, 13 temples were covered, which included 6 Padal Petra Shiva Temples. Will be posting the details of the temples which are not covered during my previous visits/Paadal Petra Sthalangal Visit. The place Veppathur is on the banks of the Kaveri River and in between Kaveri and Palavar River. 

HISTORY:

This Veppathur Village was once a Vedic learning center compared to the University of Prayag ( Allahabad ). This was mentioned by Maha Periyava in Deivathin Kural. He said the small hillock lying in the village is a submerged Vishnu temple of the Pre-Pallava Period (560 AD) and wished someone to come forward for the renovation of this temple. As per Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal, this Vishnu temple “Vittirunda Perumal Koil”  might belong to the Mahendra Varman (560 CE) Period. This brick temple constructed without using stone indicates its early phase and the remains of Pallava mural painting traces can be seen on the sanctum inside walls. 

The Veppathur Village was once a well-established Chaturvedi Mangalam, that flourished during the Pallava, Chozha, and Vijayanagara Periods. This may be the only known Pallava period brick temple in Chozha mandalam. Later this temple was patronized by the Chozhas and Vijayanagaras. Chozhas converted all the brick temples into stone temples, but this was untouched. The traces of Mural paintings of the three rulers may be seen on the sanctum inside walls, one over the other.

As per the Rajendra-I ( 1021 CE ) inscription ( ARE 292 of 1908 ) at Thirukazhitittai, Sri Vedapurisvara Temple an Adjacent Village mentions this place Vempattur also called Cholamartandachadurvedi Mangalam. Some people claim that this place was also called “Avani Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam” and the temple was called “Avani Narayana Vinnagar”.

The original stucco seated Vishnu idol was replaced with stone idols during the 17^th Century Vijayanagara period, probably because the original idol was found damaged. Later why the temple was abandoned is not known. It was told by the villagers that the idols were brought down and kept in a small temporary temple at the beginning of the 20^th Century. The idea of shifting the idols to another temple was abandoned by the Villagers as per the advice of Kanchi Maha Periyava during his visit in 1990.  He also advised the villagers to explore the possibilities of rebuilding the temple. The reconstruction works have been started by the R.E.A.C.H Foundation under the head of Dr. Sathyamoorthy, the founder and the former ASI Official.

   

The sanctum and Vimana were rebuilt using specially made bricks and binding was done with lime mortar. The original Vimana inner core was bonded with lime and the outer core was bonded with a thin layer of mud, to look like a joint without metal, mold finish appearance. The present reconstruction of the temple also adopted the same old ancient method. Due to this, whenever there were external shear thrusts on the Vimana the outer core moved without transforming the force to the inner core.  The newly rebuilt Vimana is about 90 feet high with 5 tiers.

HOW TO REACH:

Veppathur is about 4.5 KM from Thiruvidaimaruthur, 10 KM from Kumbakonam, and 57 KM from Thanjavur.

The nearest railway station is Kumbakonam.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

 Traces of Mural paintings

Traces of Mural Paintings 

Some more information & Comments from my Facebook page

Ramachandran Guruswamy Omitted to mention that Veppathur Thiruvisalur Idavai combined known as Vembil Fort. Vembil Fort was a bone of contention between Maran Parankusan and Dantivarman. Sivaliganathar Koil and Karkateshwar koil were dear to Cholas up to Rajendra I. Rajaraja made neerkadan at Tiruvalanchuli and Tiruvisalur. Temples surrounded by moats were common. Sivalokanathar temple now in ruins also has a reminiscence of moats
Most of the early Perumal Temples were Sudhai
Our family had a house at South Street for at least 250 years and my father's maternal grandmother in the absence of a male heir donated the house to Perumal temple. Hence the present Venkatachalapathi temple would have evolved at least 300 years. Kaiassnathar temple lies northeast. Veetriirntha Perumal Temple lies to the Southwest of the present village nearer to Palavaru
Incidentally, the Agraharam in Tiruvisalur with the house of Sri Sridara Ayyaval is nearer to river Cauvery. Most historians omit one thing most of the habitations of Cholas were away from rivers. (Kumbakonam/Thiruvidaimarudur Mayiladuthurai etc.,) while new habitations of Vijayanagar were near the river(eg., Yagasalai street David street Vijayendra Swamigal Mutt Kumbakonam Tiruvisalur present agraharam Tiruvalangadu present agraharam Mahadhana street Tiruvidaimarudur Mayiladuthurai etc.,
If the legacy of Veetriiuntha Perumal Temple is to be brought forth extensive excavation from Kovilacheri to old Tiruvisalur has to be done to trace VEMBIL FORT

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  Veludharan Thanks for all the information - I will Copy and paste it into the post of my blog.

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  Ramachandran Guruswamy Veludharan Thanks

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