Parthasarathy Perumal, Tirunangur (Parthanpalli), Nagapattinam

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Parthasarathy Perumal	Ambal / Thayar:	Senkamala Valli
Deity:	Perumal	Historical name:	TiruPaarthanpalli
Vriksham:		Teertham:	Khadga Pushkarini, Ganga Teertham
Agamam:		Age (years):	1000-2000
Timing:	8 to 10 & 5 to 7	Parikaram:
Temple group:	Divya Desam	–
Sung by:	Tirumangaiazhvar, Poigaiazhvar	Temple set: Ekadasa Divya Desam
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Tirunangur	District:	Nagapattinam
Maps from (click):	Current location	Mayiladuthurai (25.1 km)	Nagapattinam (56.8 km)
	Tiruvarur (59.5 km)	Kumbakonam (63 km)

Location

Tirunangur is located 10 km from Sirkazhi. This temple is located a bit outside Nangur on the way to Poompuhar, and is about 13km from Sirkazhi.

Sthala puranam and temple information

It will be useful to read this overview of the Nangur Ekadasa Divya Desam and Ekadasa Rudra Peethams, if you have not already done so, to set the context for the eleven temples (including this temple) in Nangur.

Parthan refers to Arjuna. Parthanpalli means a place for Arjuna. Krishna, as Parthasarathy Perumal, came to this temple specifically for Arjuna. In the time of the Mahabharatam, Arjuna came to the south. One day, during hunting, he felt thirsty. Sage Agastyar was doing penance at this place and so Arjuna approached the sage, and asked for some water. Agastyar poured water from his kamandalam, but it vanished the moment it touched Arjuna’s hands. Realising through his vision that this was a divine play, Agastyar, in a teasing way, rebuked Arjuna for asking him for water, when for everything else the Pandavas asked Krishna who fulfilled their needs. Immediately, Arjuna prayed to Krishna, who immediately came here and, using his sword (Khadga), made a cut on the ground. Immediately, the river Ganga started flowing there, and became the temple tank – Khadga Teertham. It is believed that the Perumal here came from Kurukshetra.

There is also another legend, according to which Krishan appeared to Arjuna here to initiate the latter into the knowledge of who he really was. Since this tutelage of Arjuna happened here, it is regarded that this place came to be known as Parthanpalli (palli = school in Tamil).

In the Ramayanam, King Dasaratha performed the putrakamyeshti yagam here, during which, he sensed that Vishnu would be born as his son. So he desired a vision of the Lord. Vishnu, with Sridevi and Bhudevi, appeared out of the sacrificial fire. One of the sculptures in the temple depicts this, with Vishnu having one foot in the fire and one outside.

Perumal here – as Parthasarathy – has 4 arms, as opposed to Parthasarathy Perumal in Tiruvallikeni, who has only arms. Perumal here has a dagger in the belt on his waist !

This is a west-facing temple. There are two rare depictions of murtis in this temple. One is of Arjuna with Krishna, at the scene of Gitopadesam. The other is Kolavilli Ramar, who is there in the garbhagriham – which his unheard of elsewhere.

Of the Nangur Ekadasa Divya Desam temples, this is the only one where an azhvar other than Tirumangaiazhvar has sung pasurams – in this case, Poigaiazhvar.

In the Tamil month of Thai (January-February), the Garuda Sevai utsavam takes place at the nearby Badrinarayana Perumal temple at Nangur, where the Perumal and Garuda of each of the 11 Nangur Divya Desam temples arrive here. This festival is a must visit for those who are interested.

Other information for your visit

There are no accommodation options in Nangur. The nearest place for decent budget and mid-range accommodation is Mayiladuthurai. Lately, some hotels and AirBnB type accommodation have come up around Sirkazhi.