The Thiru Parthanpalli Temple at Thiru Nangur

There is a rare temple at Thiru Nangur in Tamil Nadu that dates back to the Mahabharata period and is dedicated to the Pandava hero Arjuna. Read on...

- Srikant K

The ancient Thiru Parthanpalli temple is located close to a small village called Thirunangur, 8 km east of Sirkazhi en route to Thiruvenkadu in the Indian state of Tamilnadu. This temple is one of the hallowed 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. The glory of this temple has been sung in the ‘Divya Prabandham’ (Tamil devotional literary work) by the Vaishnavite Azhwar saints between the 6th–9th centuries AD. Lord Vishnu is worshipped here as ‘Taamariyaal Kelvan’ and His consort Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped as ‘Shegamalavalli Thayar’ or ‘Thamarai Nayaki’. This temple is set amidst the lap of nature surrounded by lush green fields and is one of the eleven Divyadesams of Lord Vishnu present in Thirunangur. The saint Thirumangai Azhwar has sung the praises of the Lord of Paarthanpalli in 10 verses in his poetic treatise ‘Periya Thirumozhi’; so did Poigai Azhwar in his devotional ‘Thiruvandhadhi’ Hymns. It is the only temple in the Nangur divyadesams to have been revered by an azhwar other than Thirumangai Alvar.