Tiruvallur deity

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HINDU

 

Crowning glory for the Tiruvallur deity

 

 

Lord Veeraraghava with His Consorts...

 

SCRIPTURES REFER to Lord Narayana as ``Alankarapriya'' ? one who loves

ornaments, dresses and other finer things and Lord Siva as ``Abishekapriya''

--

one who likes the sacred bath. The deities in the temples of the Tamil land

have

always been adorned with jewels, presented in those days by kings and rulers,

and by lesser mortals in recent times. The idol of Lord Veeraraghava at

Thiruvallur,

44 km west of Chennai, is to be decorated with ``Pandyan Kondai,'' a massive

head dress of gold studded with pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other

gems. It is a replica of the jewel said to have been dedicated to deities by

the

Pandya rulers.

 

The ``Pandyan Kondai,'' consists of gems with a total weight of 815 carat. The

total number of stones in the crown is 3,015, of which 1,175 are diamond

(weight

127 ct) 1,725 are ruby (weight 614 ct) and 115 are emerald (weight 74 ct). The

precious stones have been embedded in the 24-carat gold crown weighing 2.6 kg.

 

According to Mr. K. G. Krishnan, secretary of the Pandyan Kondai Kainkarya

Committee, the panel was constituted three years ago and it took them one year

to

collect funds. Then they started procuring gems from various sources and the

work was completed this year.

 

The VBC Jewellery at T. Nagar, Chennai, has made the crest jewel engaging

three

persons for one year without expecting any profit as it was for a divine

purpose.

Similar Kondais adorn the idols of Azhagiamanavalan at Srirangam, and

Malaiyappa Swami (Utsavar) at Tirupati. It is said that the idol of

Devaperumal

(Lord Varadaraja) at Kanchipuram also is adorned with similar crown though it

is

not studded with as many precious stones as that of Lord Veeraraghava.

 

 

The crown that will adorn the Lord of Thriuvallur.

 

The Pandyan Kondai is also known as ``Salihothra Mahirishi Kondai" named after

a

sage, to fulfil whose wish the Lord took the lying posture in this holy place.

``Thirumalir-unjolaimalai Sthala Purana,'' a history of the Kallazhagar Temple

near

Madurai, published over 60 years ago, says that a Pandyan Kondai was

presented for Lord Kallazhagar about 1,000 years ago by the Pandyan monarch.

 

The ``Pandyan Kondai'' for Lord Veeraraghava, which was on display at various

places in Chennai, will be presented to the deity at Thiruvallur at 2 p.m. on

Sunday

(April 7) by Sri Narayana Yatheerndra Mahadesikan, Jeeyar Swami of the Ahobila

Math. The crown will be taken around in a palanquin at 10 a.m. After

presenting

the crown, the Jeeyar Swami will recite the ``Kshethra Puranam'' or the legend

about Thiruvallur. He will be taken in a procession in a palanquin at 4 p. m.

The

Lord and His consorts will be taken in procession at 6 p.m.

 

T. A. SRINIVASAN