Govindaraja Perumal Temple or Thiruchitrakoodam in Chidambaram in the SouthIndian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu godVishnu. The temple is inside the premises of Thillai Nataraja Temple, constructed in the Tamil architecture. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medievalTamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Govindaraja and his consort Lakshmi as Pundarikavalli. A major shrine of Lord Shiva worship since the classical period, there have been several renovations and offerings to Chidambaram by the Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara and Chera royals in the ancient and pre-medieval periods. The temple as it stands now is mainly of the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions in similar style. The Govindaraja idol is believed to have been relocated outside the temple complex during the period of Kulothunga Chola II and reinstated later by king Krishnappa Nayak. Six daily rituals and two major yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Chittirai festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai, is the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Legend
is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the grooves, clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity. The town used to be called Thillai, following Thillaivanam, derived from the mangrove of Tillai trees that grow here and the nearby Pichavaram wetlands. As per Hindu legend, once Shiva and Parvati wanted to judge who among them was a better dancer and wanted their sons Vinayaka and Murugan to judge. Both of them judged in favour of Paravati, after which Shiva was not satisfied. He wanted Brahma to judge and the competition was held in Thiruvalangadu. Brahma was still not satisfied and he wanted Vishnu to judge who wanted the competition in Tillaivanam. Shiva performed the Urthvathandavam pose of picking ear ring with legs and wearing them in the ear with his legs. Parvathi was not able to perform the feat and became Kali at Thillai Kali temple.
History
The Govindaraja shrine is dedicated to Vishnu and is one of the 108 holy temples of Lord Vishnu called divyadesam, revered by the 7th-9th-century saint poets of vaishnava tradition, alwars. Kulashekara alwar mentions this temple as Tillai Chitrakutam and equates Chitrakuta of Ramayana fame with this shrine. King Kulothunga Chola II is believed to have uprooted the presiding Govindraja image from the shrine. The shrine has close connections with the Govindaraja temple in Tirupati dating back to saint Ramanuja of the 11-12th century. Ramanujar fled to Tirupati with the utsava of the temple to escape punishment. In the 16th century, king Krishnappa Nayak was instrumental in installing the image of Govindaraja back in the temple. There was a lot of resistance from the shaivites against placing the Vishnu image in a revered Shiva temple, but the king was unmoved and the image was installed in the present form. There is no satisfactory evidence of co-existence of the Shiva and Vishnu shrines within the same temple built during the same time – there was a dispute in 1849 regarding the rights on the Govindaraja idol and Alwar Sannidhi between Vaishnavas and Dikshitars and the position of Vaishnavas was upheld by the district court.
Religious significance
The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Kulasekaraazhvaar in eleven hymns and Thirumangai Azhwar in thirteen hymns. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. As per legend, Govindarajan is believed to have descended for sage Kanvar and the 3,000 Dikshidars of the Thillai Natarajar temple. The temple is one of the two rare Divyadesams, with the other being Nilathingal Thundam Perumal temple, that are housed in a Shiva temple.
Festivals and religious practices
The temple priests perform the pooja during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day: Ushathkalam at 7 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 10:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram, neivethanam and deepa aradanai for both Govindarajan and Pundarikavalli. During the last step of worship, nagaswaram and tavil are played, religious instructions in the Vedas are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The 10-day Chittirai festival celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai and Gajendra Moksha festival are the prominent festivals celebrated in the temple.
