Located 5kms West of Cheran Maha Devi is the centuries old Sundararaja Perumal Temple in Veeravanallur where the Lord is seen in a grand standing posture along with Sri and Bhoo Devi. The presence of an agraharam is a pleasant sight in the village.
There is a separate Sannidhi for Vedanta Desikar, whose Avathara utsavam used to be celebrated in a grand manner over 10 days.
Pandya King Veeramaran came here on a hunting expedition and was stunned to see a Muyal standing its ground and taking on a wild dog in this forest region. Pleased at this sight, he built the temple dedicated to Shiva in a grand style. In recognition of his efforts this place came to be referred to as Veeravanallur.
The Perumal temple came much later after the construction of the Shiva Temple. The temple has a Maha Mandapa, Artha Mandapa and Mani Mandapa. There is a big tank with a Mandapa behind the temple that is now brimming with water after the recent rains. There is also a canal that runs through the village.
Till the first half of the last century, a 10 day Poosam Festival was celebrated in Thai with the Chariot Festival on the 9th day. There was also a 10 day Sri Jayanthi festival, a 7 day Pavitrotsavam and an Oonjal Utsavam in Aippasi. The 21 day festival in Margazhi was also a popular festival at this temple including the recital of Divya Prabhandham. The presence of all the vahanas including Garuda Vahana and Hanumantha Vahana also indicate to the conduct of the annual Brahmotsavam with the Lord going out on street processions providing darshan to the devotees on different vahanas. And the place had been abuzz with devotional activity through the year.
However, over the last few decades, the temple had remained in an unattended condition with no permanent priest to take care of the daily pooja. In recent times, a priest has been roped in from Central India along with a Parijarakar to take care of the sacred offering to the Lord.
The temple also wears a new look now and it is hoped that the festivals that were once an integral part of this village would be revived again in its old grandeur.
The temple is open between 630am and 11am and 430pm-830pm. Contact: Rangaraja Bhattar @ 94601 79551 / 97892 70435 or Venkatachari @ 98848 30141.
When here also visit Gajendra Varadaraja Perumal temple Athalanallur, 4 kms north west. http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/03/athalanallur-gajendra-varadaraja-perumal.html