VELUDHARAN TEMPLES VISIT : Shri Parthasarathy Temple, Parthivapuram, Arudesam, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu.

Tuesday, 11 February 2020

Shri Parthasarathy Temple, Parthivapuram, Arudesam, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu.

25^th January 2020.

The visit to this Shri Parthasarathy temple at Parthivapuram in Kanyakumari District was a part of the Nanjil Nadu Heritage Walk organized by Yaaooyaakay and Celebrate Kanchi in association with Tamil Nadu Tourism and Development Department, Kanyakumari, scheduled on 24^th to 26^th January 2020.

This was the first temple’s visit on the second day. This place was called once Parthivasekarapuram. There were 3 types of learning centers functioning for the Brahmins and Kshatriyas during Aay King’s periods.

Moolavar: Sri Parthasarathy.

Some of the salient features of this temple are...

The temple faces west with an entrance arch. Loose sculptures under worship are on the right side of the entrance arch. A balipeedam is after the entrance arch. A stone temple with a sanctum and artha mandapam is on the right side on an elevated platform. Nagars are on the left side. In the outer prakaram sannadhi for Kanteshwara Lord Shiva, Varaha Murthy, Narasimha, Ayyappa and Vadakkum Perumal. Moolavar Sri Parthasarathy is in a standing posture (with one foot ?) in the sanctum. There is no sannadhi for Thayar and Garudan.

Loose Sculptures

ARCHITECTURE

The praharam around the sanctum sanctorum is almost empty except for madapalli. A 4-pillar mandapam is in front of the main sanctum sanctorum. The extended front mandapam covers both outside and inside. The koshtams are also empty. The sanctum sanctorum is built on a pada bandha adhistanam with tripatta kumudam. A 2 tier stucco vimanam is over the sanctum. In valapi, Bhootha vari is shown. The prastram is of kapota style with nasi kudu. Above the prastaram, is viyyalavari / yazhi vari, and various animals are shown. The Vimanam has only 8 deity images, which include Brahma. Also, 8 Lion images are found on the top level. Except for Vimanam thangis, no other stucco images of deities are found. The front and corridor mandapams, Shiva sannadhi, and Vadakum Perumal sannidhis are built in Kerala style with Mangalore tiled roofs.

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

This temple was built by the Aay King Karunandadakkan (857 – 885 CE). This place was called Parthivasekarapuram which has got corrupted to the present name of Parthivapuram.

This place has got 5 leaves of Copper plates. In the 1^st leaf of the copper plate, inscriptions record that the king donated many lands in place of Uzhakkuvilai, to Munsirai Village sabha. (it was learned that a female elephant was let free to roam. The roamed area was gifted to this temple). The King established a Parthivakesapuram Salai ( a residential learning center/School ) similar to Kanthalur Salai with a Vishnu temple.

The second leaf of the copper plate records the gift of land to the temple towards temple servants, flowers, burning of perpetual lamps, and celebrations. The temple servants are supposed to bring 30 pots of water daily for the abhishekam, garlands, and oil to burn the perpetual lamps.

The third leaf of the copper plate records the gift of land to Shantikarars, Akanazhikai servants, Panchagavya sprayers, the persons who give flowers, and Musicians.

The 4^th and 5^th leaves of the copper plate record the details of the School where Veda's teachings were taught, the number of teachers & Students (95 students), the rules & regulations/code of conduct to be followed, the process of learning, collection of Taxes, the punishment for the defaulters, etc,.

5 inscriptions of this temple are recorded. The Kaman Dhadakkan’s (923 CE) inscription is considered as the oldest. This king donated land to this temple. Another inscription records the donation of the perpetual lamps.

The temple is under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).