Jai Sriman Narayana !!
Thiru Semponsei Kovil is one of the 108 Divya
Desams of Lord Vishnu located in Thirunangur, Nagapattinam District, Tamil
Nadu.
Presiding Deity – Moolavar Perarulalan, Utsavar
– Hemarangan/Sempon Arangan with his consort Goddess Sri Alli Mamalar Nachiyar
Pushkarani – Hema Pushkarani
Vimanam – Kanaka Vimanam
Mangalasasanam – Thirumangai Alwar
Festivals – Thai Mangalasasana Utsavam,
Vaikundha Ekadashi, Ekadasaha Garuda Sevai,
Prathyaksham to – Lord Rudra
The legend has that Lord Rudra worshipped Lord Vishnu on this sacred land to get rid of Brahmahathya sin. The most pleased Lord Vishnu provided
dharshan to Lord Rudra. Lord Rudra
desired Lord Vishnu to assume his eleven divine forms and reside on this sacred
land of Thirunangur. Lord Vishnu remained
on this sacred land forever as desired by Lord Rudra and these 11 divine forms
of Lord Vishnu came to known as 11 Thirunangur Divya Desams. And they are:
Thirukavalampadi - Sri Gopalakrishna Swamy with
his consorts Goddess Rukmini & Satyabhama
Thiruvanpurushothamam – Thiru Purushothaman with
his consort Goddess Purushothama Nayaki
Thirusempon Seikovil – Sri Perarulalan with his
consort Goddess Allimalar Nachiyar
Thirudevanar Thogai – Thiru Deivanayaga Perumal
with his consort Goddess Kadalmagal Nachiyar
Thirumani Koodam – Sri Varadaraja Perumal with
his consorts Goddess Sri Devi Nachiyar & Boomi Devi Nachiyar
Thiru Parthanpalli – Thiru Thamarai Kelvan with
his consort Goddess Thamarai Nayaki
Thiru Manimada Kovil – Thiru Narayanan with his
consort Goddess Pundarikavalli Thayar
Thiruvali Thirunagari – Sri Vedaraja Perumal
with his consort Goddess Amruthaghatavalli Thayar
Thiru Vaikundha Vinnagaram – Thiru Vaikundha Natha
Perumal with his consort Goddess Periya Piratti
Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram – Thiru Kudamadu
Koothan with his consort Goddess Amruthaghata Valli
Thiruthetri Ambalam – Thiru Senkanmal with his
consort Goddess Senkamala Valli Thayar
Another legend has that Lord Rama had a fierce battle
with the demon King Ravana, beheaded the demon King and afflicted with Brahmahathya
sin. He arrived in the sacrosanct
place Rameshwaram and worshipped Lord Shiva to get rid of the Brahmahathya. On his way back to Ayodhya, he arrived in
Thirunangur and continued austerities as per the advice of Sage Dridanetra. He
worshipped an idol of cow made of gold and later it provided as alms to a pious
Brahmin, who was in turn utilized the entire gold for the construction of an
attractive temple dedicated to Lord.
There is an interesting myth associated with this temple. There was a poor Brahmin Kashyapa lived in a small village at Kanchipuram. His family had to undergo severe poverty. One day the old Brahmin Kashyapa's elder son Mukundan left home with the permission and the blessings of his father searching for a livelihood and arrived on the banks of river Cauvery. Finally, Mukundan reached at the sacred temple of Thiru Semponsei Kovil. He met a saintly person in this temple and narrated his pathetic stories. The saintly person advised Ashtakshara Mantra 'Om Namo Narayana' to Mukundan and instructed him to chant this sacred Mantra that would eradicate his poverty. Mukundan was delighted at the progress in his life, he blissfully seated infront of the deity and sincerely chanted the Ashtakshara Mantra continously for three days. Approximately, he repeated this sacred chant for 32,000 times.
On the third day evening Mukundan left the temple and decided to return to his village through the woodlands in Kuranguputhur. Soon the sun disappeared from the sight, the darkness spreaded its wings, the entire woodlands doomed into darkness. Moreover, there were lots of monkey crowd creating nuisances around him. He decided to settle on the top a Banyan tree and slowly drifted to sleep. During the midnight he heard some noises of whispering under the tree. He looked down searching for the voice, there were theives carrying loads of wealth along with fierce weapons. Mukundan keenly observed the acts of the theives while sitting on the brach of this tree. These theives were shouted some secret code repeated for five times to the Banyan tree, immediately the tree trunk divided into two equal halves created an opening. They safely deposited the loads of wealth in the opening and closed it with the same secret code. To his surprise the Banyan tree followed the instructions of the theives. The theives left the place immediately.
Mukundan was so surprised watching the whole scenario. Soon, Lord appeared before Mukundan and advised him to follow the secret code and take as much as wealth he needed as a gift for his sincere devotion and chanting the holy names of Lord. Mukundan sincerely followed the instruction of Lord. Before leaving to home once again visited this temple with tears of joy and prayed to Lord in a ecstacy. He returned to his native land with the wealth and performed charities and conducted sacrifices to please the Lord. The old Brahmin and his family lived happily for long time and finally attained the Abode of Lord with their righteousness. Thus, the presiding deity of this temple got his name 'Sempon Rangan'.
There is an interesting myth associated with this temple. There was a poor Brahmin Kashyapa lived in a small village at Kanchipuram. His family had to undergo severe poverty. One day the old Brahmin Kashyapa's elder son Mukundan left home with the permission and the blessings of his father searching for a livelihood and arrived on the banks of river Cauvery. Finally, Mukundan reached at the sacred temple of Thiru Semponsei Kovil. He met a saintly person in this temple and narrated his pathetic stories. The saintly person advised Ashtakshara Mantra 'Om Namo Narayana' to Mukundan and instructed him to chant this sacred Mantra that would eradicate his poverty. Mukundan was delighted at the progress in his life, he blissfully seated infront of the deity and sincerely chanted the Ashtakshara Mantra continously for three days. Approximately, he repeated this sacred chant for 32,000 times.
On the third day evening Mukundan left the temple and decided to return to his village through the woodlands in Kuranguputhur. Soon the sun disappeared from the sight, the darkness spreaded its wings, the entire woodlands doomed into darkness. Moreover, there were lots of monkey crowd creating nuisances around him. He decided to settle on the top a Banyan tree and slowly drifted to sleep. During the midnight he heard some noises of whispering under the tree. He looked down searching for the voice, there were theives carrying loads of wealth along with fierce weapons. Mukundan keenly observed the acts of the theives while sitting on the brach of this tree. These theives were shouted some secret code repeated for five times to the Banyan tree, immediately the tree trunk divided into two equal halves created an opening. They safely deposited the loads of wealth in the opening and closed it with the same secret code. To his surprise the Banyan tree followed the instructions of the theives. The theives left the place immediately.
Mukundan was so surprised watching the whole scenario. Soon, Lord appeared before Mukundan and advised him to follow the secret code and take as much as wealth he needed as a gift for his sincere devotion and chanting the holy names of Lord. Mukundan sincerely followed the instruction of Lord. Before leaving to home once again visited this temple with tears of joy and prayed to Lord in a ecstacy. He returned to his native land with the wealth and performed charities and conducted sacrifices to please the Lord. The old Brahmin and his family lived happily for long time and finally attained the Abode of Lord with their righteousness. Thus, the presiding deity of this temple got his name 'Sempon Rangan'.
This temple remains open from 8.00AM to 12.00PM
in the morning and 5.00PM to 7.00PM in the evenings.
Jai Sriman Narayana !!
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