Sri Neervannaperumal Temple, Thiruneermalai is one among the 108 Divyadesams temples dedicated to Bhagwan Vishnu and his various Avatars, located in Chennai, near Tambaram. Thiruneermalai is a southern suburb of Chennai, Bharat in the Chengalpattu district. There are two temples for God Vishnu at this Divyadesam – Neervanna Perumal temple at the bottom of the hill and Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple at the top of the hill.
It is the One and Only Divyadesam where the Almighty is Blessing the devotees in His ALL Four Blessing Forms i.e., Neer Vanna Perumal in standing form (Nindra) at the bottom of the hill, and the other three forms i.e., Narasimha in sitting form (Iruntha), Ranganatha in reclining form (Kidantha) and Ulagalanda Perumal in walking posture (Nadantha) at the top of the hill.
Legend
The legend is that Valmiki prayed to have a Darshan of Sri Rama in the same form that he took during his marriage to Sita. As per the sage’s request, Bhagwan Vishnu appeared in the form of Sri Rama (Vishnu) along with Sita (Lakshmi), Lakshman (Adi Sesha), Bharath (Conch) and Shatrugan (Sudarshan Chakra). There are also shrines for Sugreev (Bhagwan Ganesh) and Hanuman (Garuda) in this place. Sage Valmiki could view Bhagwan Ranganatha, Bhagwan Trivikrama (Ulagalanda Perumal) and Bhagwan Narasimha in the top temple.
Since Sri Rama’s skin was blue and similar to the colour of the surrounding water, he is called as Neervannar (In Tamil, neer means water and vannam means color). Thiruneermalai town is one of the 163 notified areas (megalithic sites) in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Goddess Lakshmi in this temple is known as Ani Mamalarmangai Nachiyar.
Thiruneermalai is the Only Divyadesam where Bhagwan Narasimha is present in the form of Shantha Narasimha (along with the furious Ugra Narasimha form) and also believed that Bhagwan Narasimha gave darshan to Arjuna when he performed Ashwamedha Yagam.
People need to climb around 250 steps to reach the hill top. The complex is in two parts. One at the base of the hill for the Staladhipadhi Neervanan (Ninran-Standing Posture), housing shrines of his consort Animamalar Mangai thayar, Kalyana Rama and Andal. Shrine for Hanuman is to the right as one climbs up to the hill shrine. The temple complex up the hill has three shrines for Sri Ranganatha (Kidanthaan – in reclining posture), Trivikrama (Nadanthaan – in walking posture), Bhagwan Narasimha (Irundhaan – sitting posture) and a Shrine for Ranaganayaki Thayar (facing East). It is a double prakaram (outer courtyard) temple.
There are three Vimanams at this temple, viz., Ranga Vimaanam – Sri Ranganatha, Santha Vimaanam – Bhagwan Narasimha and Thoyagiri Vimaanam – Ulagalantha Perumal. The Garuda shrine faces the Lord. The lower shrine is situated in 3 acres of land and the upper shrine occupies 12 acres of land. The temple has inscriptions from the period related to Chola and Pandya kingdoms. The view from the top of the hill is very pleasant and wonderful.
Thiruneermalai Kshetram is also called as “Thoyagiri Kshetram” and also as “Thothadri”. Thoya means “Water” and Adhiri means “Mountain” (malai). Since the mountain is surrounded by water, this sthalam is named as “Thiru Neermalai” (neer means water). The temple has a beautiful Teppakulam-tank covering three acres with a Mandap at the centre. This tank is praised as Suddha Pushkarini, Ksheera Pushkarini, Karunya Pushkarini and Swarna Pushkarini.
Festivals
Two Bramhotsavams are celebrated in this temple, one for Neeravannan the months of mid-March -mid April and another for Bhagwan Ranganatha in the months of mid-April- mid May. The temple rituals are conducted as per Vaikanasa Agamam. While the Sthalathipathi (presiding deity) is Neervanna Perumal, all utsavams (celebrations) are for Bhagwan Ranganatha.
One can reach the temple by travelling around 4 Kms from Pallavaram Railway Station, which is about 7 Kms from Chennai.
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