Singaperumal Koil

Singaperumal Koil, which is neither a village nor a city but a delightful mix of both, is about 45 km to the south of Chennai. It has a famous Narasimha temple which is very ancient.This is small temple on a hillock about 20 km from Tambaram -Chennai. It is about 6 km from SRM college.An early morning drive from Chennai to Singaperumal koil is really worth it. The breeze is cool and the traffic minimum. Most of the buses (other than express and point to point) that ply towards Chengalpet will take you there within 75-90 mins of travelling from the city.

Overview

It is a lovely temple housing a fairly large (about 8 ft) idol of Pataladri Narasimha.Narasimha one of the incarnations of Vishnu who is half-man and half-lion. The name Singaperumal translates to Lion-god.

The idol is a part of a large boulder (almost a hillock). Hence if one desires to circumbulate the idol (pradakshina), one needs to go round the boulder. This is called Giri-valam in Tamil. Giri is hill/mountain and Valam is going round in a clockwise manner.

The idol here is unique in that while performing Arathi, the priests remove the "Namam" of Narasimhaswamy to reveal a third eye.

Pataladri means Red Hill (Patal means red; Adri means hill) - here Narasimha is an Ugra roopa. Legend has it that he manisfested here at the request of Sage Jabali, after the destruction of Hiranyakashyapu. Since Narasimha here is in a position to destroy evil, it is believed that if one sees the third eye of this god, all misery of life is removed.

One can go around the hillock thrice, seven times, nine times or twelve times. On the Prakara are idols of Venkateshwara and Lakshmi-Narasimha Swami. There is also a wish-fulfilling tree, the mandapa and the bali peetha. It is a lovely sight to watch birds and animals eat the prasada offered at the bali peetha.

The prasad is sold in a small stall right inside the temple premises - do not miss the Dosas and chilli powder there, they are great. (only on weekends)

Another temple that is also there is The Devanathaswamy Temple is situated about 3 km West of Singaperumal Koil. Devanathaswamy resides in a village named Chettipunniyam, which boasts of four or five streets. The presiding deity, Devanathaswamy, sits facing East.Though a Sannidhi for Varadaraja Perumal has been in this temple for the last 350 years, it was only in 1848, thanks to the efforts of Sirasdar Rao Sahib Rangachar that the idol of Devanathaswamy of Tiruvendipuram was installed in this temple. The year was 1848; the day Friday; month Vaigasi; date 22; and the star Makam. From that day, daily pooja is offered to this deity. Devanathaswamy did not come alone but along with Hayagriva. These facts are corroborated by the Government Gazette records of the South Arcot Government, of the same year The idols of Thayar, Sridevi, Boodevi and Andal were installed after this. The idols of Sri Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman were brought to Vandalur in Chennai, in the year 1868, on Oct 5, by Mudumbai Ramaswamy Iyengar, from the Tanjore Palace. When Ramaswamy Iyengar migrated to Bangalore, he had all these Gods installed in the Devanathaswamy Temple, since Chettipunniyam, was his native village. There is a separate sanctum sanctorum for Sri Rama in this temple. It has to be mentioned here that the first Mysore Dewan Veeravalli Rangachar (1831-1883) also hailed from this village.

The villagers conduct the 'Thiruparvettai' festival in a grand manner, on a Sunday in the month of 'Thai' (Jan 15 - Feb 15), every year. The temple trust organises a number of utsavs like Sri jayanthi, Special thai velli poojas, Sri Vaikunta Ekadasi, Sri Vedanta Desikan Sathumurai, Vaigasi magam and Deepa (Lights) utsavam.

The devotees also conduct many utsavs - adhyayana utsav, Vijaya dasami, Adi Pooram, Panguni Uthiram, Udayavar Saathumurai and Sri Ramanavami. Another famous celebration was Sri Devanathaswamy's centenary (100 years in this temple), which was celebrated for 10 days, in grand style.

After a very long time, in 1993, the Ashtabandhana Maha Samprokshanam was performed on May 17. The devotees of the village say, as far as their knowledge goes, no Samprokshanam had been done in the last 100 years. This famous temple is under the HR & CE board. An officer has been appointed to manage the affairs of the temple. A five-member committee oversees the functioning of the temple. Sri C V Palani is the temple trustee, at present. The Hayagriva in the temple, it is believed, bestows upon the devotees, education, wealth and progress in all walks of life. The temple is open between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. everyday. The temple owns about 55 acres of agricultural land and a big grove, in the village.