Sri Vijaya Varadaraja Perumal Temple

Sri Vijaya Varadaraja Perumal Temple lies at the village of Baburayanpettai. This village is four miles from Tozhuppedu. After proceeding three miles in the Orathi road, one has to turn north and cover one mile on foot or cart to reach the village. One Sri Baburayar son of Sri Krishnaji Pandit who was a Minister in the Hyderabad Samasthanam built a temple here and the village therefore came to be known as Baburayanpettai. The old name of the village was Poorathen.

The story regarding the selection of the village for the construction of the temple is as follows

“Sri Baburayar was the Tahsildar at Kancheepuram. He used to visit Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kanchi daily before taking his meals. One day before he could visit the temple, the God was taken out in procession and he could not worship the deity as usual and therefore decided not to take his meals, He remained without food for three days. God appeared in his dream and directed him to build a temple in a village lying South of Kancheepurarn. Sri Baburayar proceeded south and came to Sithamur which he found suitable for the purpose and commenced the construction of a temple. The local residents of the village objected to the raising of a temple in the village and Sri Baburayar was much worried. The God again appeared in his dream and stated that on the following morning he would see a Garuda (kite) flying in the sky and that he should build a temple in the area covered by the Garuda. The dream came true and he saw a kite circling in the sky. As the area covered by the kite was a forest, it was cleared and a temple was built there. All the necessary materials for the construction of the temple, namely, bricks, mud, sand, iron etc., were available in the forest. Sri Baburayar was not sure as to where he should locate the Garbhagraham. The God appeared in his dream for a third time and informed him that he would find an ant-hill where a cow would of its own accord give up its milk and that it was there that he should be installed, On the following morning the ant-hill was destroyed and while digging the ground two Hanuman idols were found which were removed and the Sanctum was built there. Four streets were designed so that people could come and reside in the new village. The design is similar to that of Srirangam in Trichi District. The deity of the Kanchi temple also was brought to this village in a procession and a Kumbabishekam was performed”.^[1]

The temple is thus about 400 years old. The Nawab visited the temple and gave the entire village as inam lands to the shrine and this was confirmed by the British Government in 1860. During the reign of Hyder All and Tippu Sultan, there was vandalism in the temple but the damage was subsequently repaired. As the Moolavar was damaged, it was removed and thrown into the tank. A new idol was installed. A new Sanctum for Sri Andal and Thayar were also built. The Siva temple which was at the Southern end of the village was also shifted to the precincts of the Perumal temple. As Sri Kanchi Varadar visited this temple, the deity was named as Sri Vijaya Varadaraja Perumal which is in a standing pose. Its height is 6 feet.

The consort is Sri Perundevi Thayar. There are 14 other Moola vigrahams and 19 festival idols in the Perumal temple. The Siva temple where the presiding deity is Vijaya Prasanna Esvarar has nine Moolavars and twelve Uthsavamurthys. The entire temple covers an extent of 10 acres of land. Poojas are performed four times daily by the Bhattachari. The temple has no ornaments, but has three beautiful vahanas, namely, Horse, Garuda aiid Elephant.

Their size, style etc., are as follows:

Horse 6’ x 5’ x 2’-Gallopping posture -Red colour;
Garuda 5’ x 4’-Yellow colour with wings spread;
Elephant 6’ x 3’ x 2’-White colour—.-sitting posture.

Even though the entire village belongs to the temple, the tenants -at -will who are in the enjoyment and possession of the lands have been retaining the yield for themselves. The Assistant Settlement Officer gave a decision in 1960 that out of 420 acres of lands only 120 acres belong to the Devasthanam and the remaining 300 acres are the property of the ryots. Against this decision an appeal is pending in the District Court. Owing to the above litigation, the temple is getting an annual income.

Though there are several service inam lands, except the piper, the other servants have ceased to do service to the temple.

Of the several festivals celebrated, the important are

1. Garuda Servai in Vaikasi.
2. Vijaya Dasami-when the deity is taken out in procession on the horse.
3. Pongal (Third day in month of Thai)
4. Pushyam festival in Thai when the deity is taken out in procession on the Elephant.

The hereditary trustee is in charge of the temple. In 1937-1938, when the Principal of the Pachayappa’s College, Kanchipuram visited the shrine, he was given holy water which he poured down without drinking it. On the night of his visit to the temple, when he came out to answer the calls of nature he slipped, fel1 down and broke his leg. Thereafter he used to visit the temple regularly and got cured of his foot injury. During his last days, he settled down in the village to worship the deity frequently; he died there.

One Sri Alwar Chetti had a fruit shop in Madras; from the time he started his business, he was sending flower garlands worth Rs. 100 for the Pongal festival every year. In 1960 on account of disputes between the Devasthanam and the ryots, the festival was not celebrated and Sri Alwar Chettiar stopped sending the garlands. As a result, he fell sick and also incurred losses in his trade. From 1962 he resumed sending garlands as usual ad he was reported to be happy thereafter.^[2]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Sthalapuranam of Sri Vijaya Varadaraja Perumal Koil of Baburayanpettai, Kanchipuram, 1959,pp.2-7.

[2]:

Census of India, 1961, Report, Madras, op.cit., pp.143-144.