Ancient 800 years old temple where the Lord is seen in a Grand Standing Posture
Veera Anjaneya is seen plucking out a tree in a posture of destroying the enemy forces
There is a striking similarity between the Moolavar idol found in the Divya Desam West of the Pandya Kingdom and the one here in the East, in Tiruppatur (Sivaganga District) - not to be confused with the other Tirupattur known for the Brahmapureeswar temple ( near Trichy).
The idol of Ninra Narayana Perumal in Tirupattur (Pandya Kingdom) reminds one of another such Lord – the one at Thiruthangal Divya Desam near Srivilliputhur (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2007/12/thiru-thangal-ninra-narayanan-temple.html). While this one at Tiruppatur was the Eastern gateway into the Pandya kingdom, the Divya Desam is at the Western end.
Ninra Narayana Perumal is seen in a handsome and a grand standing posture as the name indicates, flanked by Sri and Bhoo Devi Thaayar. There is a separate sannidhi for Thiru Maa Magal Thaayar.
The temple dates back at least a 800 years as seen from the inscription at the Thiru Thali Nathar temples.
Anjaneya’s Posture
A speciality of the temple is the posture of Anjaneya who is seen in a posture similar to the one during the Ramayana war. He does not have his mace. Neither does he have the crown on his head. His hair is unkempt. He is seen plucking the tree with this hand in an act of destroying the opposition forces.
Anjaneya is now seen in a separate small temple a few hundred yards away from Ninra Narayana perumal (opposite the bus stand). This was surrounded by a huge fort and hence he is referred to as Melakottai Anjaneya.
The Bhattars of both these temples come from a village called Kongarathy about 10 kms from Tiruppatur near Kandira Manickam. Kongarathy has a beautiful ancient temple for Vanpugazh Narayana Perumal (to be seen shortly). The current Bhattar family are the 9thgeneration in their clan to be taking care of the temple. During the rule of the Pandyas, lands had been allocated for the maintenance of Ninra Narayana Perumal and Melakottai Anjaneya that continues to exist to this day.
Tiruppatur was Pandya Kingdom’s second capital. It was the entry from the East to the Pandya Kingdom. The first battle with the Pandyas always took place at Tiruppatur be it with Chozhas or the Hoysalas or the Mohammadens. During the invasion by the Lankan ruler Lankapura Thanda Nayakaavin, the temple activities were disrupted. And then in the 14thcentury during the Muslim invasion, Ninra Narayana temple was damaged.
It was only after the rule of Sadaya Varma Pandya, when Visalaya Thevan undertook some renovation at this temple that this temple regained some of its grandeur. Subsequent to the renovation by Vaisalya Thevan, a renovation took place in 1921 and again in 1961 under the rule of CM Dr. Bhaktavatsalam.
Loss of the Agraharam
Decades ago there was a beautiful agraharam leading to the Chariot at the farther end with the original residents living happily on either side of road in their row houses. However as they moved away seeking greener Pasteur, new occupants took over leading to new high rise buildings. During this process, the flooring on the road and the new buildings was raised with the temple structure as well as the chariot being pushed to a lower base. This led to constant flooding inside the temple during the rainy season.
With the view to raise the temple to a higher base, the temple was brought down completely after 2002 and a new structure was created leaving us with no remnants of the old temple except for the idols of Ninra Narayana Perumal and Veera Anjaneya.
Festivals
There is a Garuda Vahana, Anna Pakshi Vahana and Horse Vahana at the temple.
Ninra Narayana Perumal goes on a Vahana procession around the now commercialised streets of Tirupattur on the Saturdays in Puratasi. There is an abhishekam for Mahalakshmi Thaayar on Sundays. Lord also goes out on a street procession during Sri Jayanthi utsavam.
Ninra Narayana Perumal temple is open between 8am-11am and 5pm-8pm. Contact V Rajagopalan Bhattar @ 94874 55910
For Veera Anjaneya temple, Contact Srinivasan Bhattar/ Sundara Gopala Bhattar/ Narayana Swami Bhattar @ 95972 45455 / 96885 76509 / 96555 25494
How to reach
Take Chennai Egmore - Rameswaram Express and get down at Karaikudi. Tiruppattur is about 20kms from there. Buses ply every 10minutes between Karaikudi and Tirupattur.
Thiru Koshtiyur Divya Desam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2011/09/thiru-koshtiyur-sowmya-narayana-perumal.html) is 7kms from Ninra Narayana Perumal Temple.
Thiru Meiyam Satihya Moorthy Perumal Divya Desam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2007/05/108-divya-desam-thiru-meiyam.html) is 20kms from Ninra Narayana Perumal Temple