Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram

Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram (29/108)

Name	Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram
District	Nagapattinam
State	Tamil Nadu
Mangalasasanam	Thirumangai Azhwar
Position	Chozha Naadu (29/108)
Presiding deity	Vishnu
God	Kudamaadu Koothan
Utsavar	Chathur Bhuja Gopalan
Goddess	Amruthakada Valli Naatchiyaar
Vimanam	Uccha Shringa Vimaanam
Speciality	One of the 11 Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal
Theertham	Amrutha Pushkarani
Worshipped by	The Rudran of The Soma Peedam Uthanga Maharishi
Temple timings	8AM to 11PM and 5PM to 7PM
Contact details

LORE:

The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Kudamaadu Koothan and His Devi is Amruthakada Valli Naatchiyaar.

Why does the Sthalam go by the name of “Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram”?

The word “Ari” means “To Steal”. The Lord Kudamaadu Koothan here steals our sins, even without us realising it. The name of the shrine “Arimeya Vinnagaram” means “The celestial city where the thief of sins dwells”.

It is said that The Govardhana Giridhaari of Brindavanam has come here to bless his devotees as Lord Kudamaadu Koothan

What are the six “Vinnagaram”s among the 108 Divya Desangal?

“Vinnagaram” means “The Abode in the sky” (Vinn – Sky, Nagaram – City) and it represents the earthen manifestation of the celestial “Shri Vaigundam”. There are six “Vinnagaram”s among the 108 Divya Desangal.

• Thiru Vinnagaram – 13/108
• Thiru Nandhipura Vinnagaram – 21/108
• Thiru Kaazhicheerama Vinnagaram – 28/108
• Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram – 29/108
• Thiru Vaigunda Vinnagaram – 33/108
• Thiru Parameshwara Vinnagaram – 56/108

What is the lore of the temple?

The temple shares the common lore of all the 11 Thiru Nangur Shrines and Lord Kudamaadu Koothan is said to have manifested to quell the anger of one of the Ekadasha Rudras, who emanated from the locks of the grief-stricken Lord Shiva, who danced the Pralaya Thandavam upon knowing the untimely demise of his then wife, Devi Sati.

Kudamaadu Koothan is pacifying the sixth Rudra viz. the Rudra of the “Soma Peedam” – who resides in a temple at, presided by Lord Amrudhapureeshwarar and His Devi Chandrakshi.

The details of the story are elaborated “here”

Why is the Lord of this shrine called Kudamaadu Koothan?

Lord Krishna is famously known for his dances. He surpassed his father Nandhagopar in dancing. His popular dances include the “Kuravai Koothu” and the “Kuda Koothu”.

Here the butter-thief Krishna is dancing as Lord Kudamaadu Koothan, with a pot of Ambrosia atop his head. The pot of Ambrosia is still seen beneath His feet in the sanctum sanctorum.

There are two different, yet interesting tales of how He came about to dancing with the pot of Ambrosia. One involves Garudan and the other revolves around Uthanga Maharishi.

What are the 11 types of “Koothu”?

There are 11 different types of “Koothu”s which are dances performed by various deities as described in the great literary epic – Silappadhigaaram.

1	Kodu Kotti
2	Paandu Ranga Koothu
3	Alli Koothu
4	Mallaadal
5	Thudi Koothu
6	Kudai Koothu
7	Kuda Koothu
8	Pedi Koothu
9	Marakaal Koothu
10	Paavai Koothu
11	Kadaiya Koothu

• Kodu Kotti
  Kodu Kotti was the first Koothu Madhavi, one of the protagonists of Silappadhigaaram, performed during her debut. The Devas had wanted Lord Siva to protect them by burning the three cities of the asuras. Lord Siva obliged and destroyed the cities by shooting a celestial flaming arrow at them. Kodu Kotti is the dance said to have been performed by Lord Siva after this destruction. He danced at a burial ground along with His consort, Uma Devi. Kodu Kotti means strong clapping. The dance features loud clapping, and that’s perhaps how it got its name.
• Panduranga Koothu
  Another dance performed by Lord Siva. “Pandu” means “white”, and “Ranga” means “Colour”. The dance got its name from the belief that Lord Shiva performed it for the benefit of Lord Brahma, after applying white ash all over his body. This was the next dance on the agenda of Madhavi’s Arangetram.
• Alli Koothu
  The next dance that Madhavi performed was believed to have been done by Lord Krishna after defeating his wicked uncle Kamsa’s plan of sending an asura in the form of an elephant named “Kuvalayapida” to kill Him. Another piece of Tamil literature describes the dance being performed with a doll named “Alli” – Alli Paavai, literally – which is possibly how it got its name.
• Mallaadal
  Next, Madhavi presented the Mallaadal, which was first performed by Lord Krishna when he wrestled and killed the asura, Banasura. “Mallan” means “Wrestler”.
• Thudi Koothu
  Thudi Koothu is said to be have been performed by Lord Murugan after destroying an asura, Soora Padman, in the middle of the sea. He played the Thudi, a musical instrument he loved, during this dance, and that’s why it’s called Thudi Koothu.
• Kudai Koothu
  Next on the agenda, another dance performed by Lord Murugan, this time in celebration of the time when the asuras gave up arms. He is believed to have lowered an umbrella – Kudai – before the asuras, hence the name.
• Kuda Koothu
  The story goes that Lord Krishna’s grandson, Aniruddha was imprisoned for having taken Banasura’s daughter Usha as his lover. In order to rescue him, Lord Krishna danced the Kuda Koothu, balancing pots (Kudam) to divert the attention of the guards. The Tamil folk dance, Karakattam, performed while the dancer balances a pot on the head, probably had its roots in this Koothu.
• Pedi Koothu
  Next, Madhavi performed the Pedi Koothu, believed to have originally been danced by Pradyumna to free his son from Banasura’s prison. The word “Pedi” refers to a frightened and fearful man. Pradyumna performed the Koothu dressed as a woman, full of fear and trepidation and that’s why it is called Pedi Koothu.
• Marakaal Koothu
  Madhavi went on to perform the Marakaal Koothu of Goddess Durga. Cunning asuras had taken the form of scorpions, snakes and centipedes. Goddess Durga performed the Koothu wearing wooden slippers (Marakaal means Wooden Slipper) to destroy the dangerous creatures.
• Paavai Koothu
  The word “Paavai” is used to refer to a beautiful doll. Goddess Lakshmi elegantly danced the Paavai Koothu like a beautifully decorated doll, to destroy the asuras clad in battle dress. That was the next item in Madhavi’s debut stage performance.
• Kadaiya Koothu
  The last Koothu performed by Madhavi was the Kadaiya Koothu is believed to have been done by Lord Indira’s wife Indrani. “Kadaichi” is the Tamil word for a woman farmer. Indrani is said to have taken the form of a woman farmer and danced in a field at the Northern gates of Banasura’s city.

A note on “Kuravai Koothu”:

“Kuravai Koothu” is a dance form of the cowherd women, who dance in praise of Lord Krishna of Brindavan, reminiscing His dance during His “Rasa Leelai” with Radha and the Gopikas. This Kuravai Koothu is explained in detail in the Silappadhigaaram.

Musical Notes (swaras) are known as Narambu in the Silappadhigaaram. Narambu are the gut strings used in the Yazh, a string instrument. Each string of the Yazh was tuned to one note therefore this association of the word “Narambu” to “Swara”.

In the Aaichiyar Kuravai, Ilango Adigal describes a dance by seven girls in a circular formation. This is a metaphor for the seven Narambu (Swaras). The seven Narambu are known as Kural (Sa), Thutham (Ri), Kaikalai (ga), Uzhai (ma), Ili (pa), Vilari (dha), Tharam (ni).

Sa	Kural
Ri	Thutham
Ga	Kaikalai
Ma	Uzhai
Pa	Ili
Dha	Vilari
Ni	Tharam

This circular formation is known as a “Vattapaalai”. These seven notes are placed in a circle that has twelve places. These twelve places are associated with the twelve zodiac signs.

Therefore, to start with there are seven notes, positioned in seven zodiacs out of the twelve. The position of the Kural (sa) is fixed in the “Thondru Podhumarai” (A Tradition of Music) at the zodiac Libra (Thula), which lies to the left side of the circle.

This circle of notes is the basis of evolving the “Naatperum Pann”. Through a process known as “Illikramam”, the note positions for the “Naatperum Pann” are derived by a verse of association between the notes.

What is the story of Garudan and Lord Kudamaadu Koothan?

Sage Kashyap was one of the Saptha Rishis. He had married 13 of the daughters of Daksha Prajapati. Two of the wives were of prominence, the elder Vinatha and the younger Kadhru. Predictably, the younger Kadhru was conniving and clever at scheming than the elder Vinatha, who was more docile and naïve.

The two sisters were competitive and wanted their children to be the best in the world. They beseeched Sage Kashyap to bless them with children. The Sage, pleased with their austerities and devotion, granted their chosen boon. Both the sisters became pregnant. Kadhru had 1000 eggs where as Vinatha had only two. They incubated the eggs and waited for them to hatch.

After 500 years, the 1000 eggs of Kadhru hatched and they were the serpentine Nagas. It is from these 1000 that all the snakes of the world are believed to have descended. Standing as testimony to the proverb “Like mother, like sons”, all of the Nagas, but the eldest one Seshan, had the same conniving nature of their mother Kadhru. Seshan could not tolerate the fiendish thoughts of his mother and the cruel nature of his brothers. So, he left them and went to holy sacred shrines to meditate upon The Lord. Pleased with his penance, he was given the responsibility of balancing the earth atop his many-thousand hoods and was eventually blessed with the position of being the bed on which Lord Narayanan reclines in Thirupaarkadal (107/108). He thus became “Adhi Seshan” and stands beyond the cycle of time and thus called as “Ananthan” – the one without an end.

The two eggs of Vinatha had not yet hatched. Already insecure about the huge difference in the number of eggs, Vinatha was impatient about the time taken for the hatching of her eggs. Foolishly, she cracked open an egg and from it emanated a half-formed incomplete man called “Arunan”. Disgusted with his incomplete form, he cursed his mother to slavery for 500 years and left to pursue penances to secure himself an identity in the cosmos. He eventually became the Charioteer for Surya Dev and is associated with the Dawn.

Vinatha now realised her errors and waited patiently for her remaining egg to hatch. Meanwhile the cunning Kadhru decided to enslave her elder sister. She called her for a bet to which Vinatha agreed. The terms of the bet were that the loser should be a slave to the winner for 500 years. Kadhru dared Vinatha to tell the colour of the celestial horse “Ucchaishravas”. The divine horse was born out of the Samudra Mandhan of Thirupaarkadal, along with other precious gifts, including Chandra Dev, Devi Mahalakshmi and the pot of ambrosia.

The horse actually had a silky white tail and Vinatha honestly told that the tail was white. But Kadhru had no intentions of letting her sister win. She asked her 1000 serpentine sons to go and wrap around the tail of the divine horse, making it seem black. Now, the horse suddenly had an apparently black tail and it was decreed that Vinatha had lost and she became a slave to Kadhru for 500 years.

After what seemed like an eternity, the egg finally cracked open, revealing a very powerful and divine demi-god with eagle wings and beaks, Garudan. Garudan was shocked to learn that his mother had been enslaved by her own sister. He went up to his step-mother and asked her to release his mother. Kadhru told that she will release Vinatha, if Garudan could bring her a pot of the divine Ambrosia from Devalok.

Garudan was so affectionate on his mother that he instantly agreed and flew towards the sky, reached the abode of the Devas and filled a pot with Ambrosia and flew down towards his home, in the hopes of freeing his mother. He then gave the pot to Kadhru, who then freed Vinatha from the clause of slavery.

It was then that the Leela of the Lord happened. The Lord appeared in front of them and took the pot and ran, dancing all the way as Lord Kudamaadu Koothan, showing the world that any asset usurped by nefarious means and dastardly deeds will not be permanent.

What is the alternate rendering of the tale in Shaivam?

The alternate version of the tale is related to the shrine of “Thiru Kudavaayil” (157/276).

The story pretty much follows the same thread, till the point where Garudan flies back to Earth with the pot of Ambrosia. The events that unfold after that are rendered in a different way in Shaivam.

Garudan stops for a while to rest, after having flown from Devalok to earth. A demon, sniffing the pot of Ambrosia, comes to steal it from him. Garudan keeps the pot in an anthill and fight with the demon, eventually killing him. He then tries to take the pot from the anthill, but it doesn’t budge. He then tries to uproot it using his beak but it transforms into a Lingam.

Lord Shiva appears as Koneshwarar and blesses Garudan and tells him that Ambrosia should not fall into the hands of vile persons like Kadhru. He then proceeds to release Vinatha from Kadhru’s slavery and blesses all of them. Garudan is so happy to get back his mother and he builds the temple to Koneshwarar in the same site where the pot of Ambrosia froze into a Lingam.

What is the story of Uthanga Maharishi and Lord Kudamaadu Koothan?

There are many accounts of the genealogy of Uthanga Maharshi. Suffice to say that he was a very pious and devout saint, who lived in the Maru desert. He was the disciple of Sage Vedha (Vaidhar in Tamizh).

After completing his education under Sage Vedha, Uthanga Maharishi was about to leave. He asked his guru about the Guru Dakshina (Initiation fee). The guru declined to accept anything. So Uthanga went and asked Sage Vedha’s wife about what she desires and promises to bring her that from whichever part of the world. The Guru’s wife asks him to get the ear-rings of the queen to the king Poushya.

Uthanga agrees and approaches the queen. She realises what a great saint he is and gives him her ear-rings. She also warns him that these ear-rings are much sought after by Serpent king “Takshakan” and urges him to secretly take the ear-rings and quickly give them to his guru’s wife. Uthanga remains calm and composed and replies that Lord Narayanan is there and he has no fear or worry. He then makes his way toward his guru’s Ashram.

The serpent king Takshaka, built this grand town of Naaga Puri, which later became Nangur, and was residing here with his clan of many headed serpents. He secretly desired the ear-rings of the Queen of Poushya.

Uthanga was crossing Naaga Puri when he found a carefree, young cowherd dancing happily, with a pot on top of his head. Suddenly Uthanga felt hungry and thirsty, as he was weary from his travel. He approached the boy and asked him to feed him some butter as he was very hungry.

The cowherd laughed and told that there is no butter in this pot. He told that There was only cow-dung and cow’s urine. He also added that if Uthanga wanted it, he would offer it to him. Uthanga was apprehensive initially. The boy then told that his guru also had consumed form the same pot and urged him to drink the cow’s urine and eat the dung. Due to his devotion toward his guru, the maharishi agreed and ate the contents of the pot.

Meanwhile, a passer-by stole the rings of the queen and fled. The sage was upset and chased the thief. He disappeared into a hole in a tree and was nowhere to be found. Uthanga then asked the cowherd about the identity and whereabouts of the thief.

The cowherd told that the thief was none other than the serpent king Takshakan and this was Naaga Puri, the magical city constructed by the demon architect, Mayan. He also told Uthanga that if he wanted to get back the rings, he should find Takshakan and pointed in the direction of a horseman, who was riding along that way.

The cowherd told that the horseman would help Uthanga and asked him to hitch a ride on the horse. The horseman agitated his horse, which then let out a terrifying neigh. The bellow of the horse was full of destructive fumes and blazing pillars of fire, which had smoked out the inhabitants of Naaga Puri.

Takshakan realised the power of the saint and his helpers and surrendered the ear-rings. Uthanga then thanked the horseman and headed to the ashram of his guru. He gave the ear-rings to the guru’s wife, who was overjoyed. He then narrated the events that had transpired on the way.

The guru was shocked to learn about the happenings and used his divine powers to gauge what had really transpired. He then revealed the truth to Uthanga Maharishi. The cow was none other then the Dharma-Devadhai. The cowherd was Lord Krishna, Himself. The pot of cow-dung and cow’s urine he had carried was actually the pot of Ambrosia.

Had Uthanga not consumed the Ambrosia offered by The Lord Kudamaadu Koothan, who came as a cowherd, in disguise, he would have been suffocated to death by the toxic and poisonous fumes of the serpents of the Takshakan clan. The guru also told Uthanga that the horseman who helped him was Indra Dev and the horse was none other than Agni Dev.

The guru then blessed Uthanga who then left to his parents’ house, married and lived happily ever after.

The Lord Kudamaadu Koothan was The Lord who danced in front of Uthanga Maharishi with the pot of Ambrosia and he is seated at Arimeya Vinnagaram with the pot of Ambrosia, beneath his feet, still blessing his devotees.

Another interesting story about Uthanga Maharishi:

Uthanga Maharishi spent a lot of decades in penance. He was unaware of the events that had happened. The Kurukshetra war had destroyed all but one of the Kauravas and was one of the goriest battles of all time.

Lord Krishna was returning to Dwaraka after the Kurukshetra war. While crossing the Maru desert, Lord Krishna meets Uthanga. Uthanga, unaware of the war, innocently asks about the well-being of Lord Krishna’s cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Lord Krishna tells him about the events that had transpired and about the battle and bloodshed and how millions of lives were lost.

What followed was quite an interesting conversation between the two.

Uthanga: Why did the Pandavas win? Why did the Kauravas lose?

Lord Krishna: Pandavas had done many good deeds whereas Kauravas had sinned?

Uthanga: Why did the Pandavas do good deeds and why did the Kauravas sin?

Lord Krishna: Pandavas had accumulated good karma from their previous births whereas the Kauravas had accumulated a lot of bad karma from their previous births.

Uthanga: Why did the Pandavas beget good karma whereas Kauravas inherited bad karma, from their previous births?

Lord Krishna: (His trademark mischievous smile)

Uthanga: You made the Pandavas win because they liked you and you made sure the Kauravas lost because they did not like you. You could have stopped the war, with a mere twitch of your eyebrow, yet your wrought so much suffering on humanity

Saying thus, Uthanga was about to curse Lord Krishna. The Lord then explained the reason behind the culling of the Kuru Vamsam and told him that it was needed to restore the balance of good & evil on earth and to even the scales.

Uthanga understood the reality. He then prays to Lord Krishna to show him the “Viswaroopa Darisanam”, which he had shown to Arjuna, on the battlefield. The Lord conceded to his request and shows him the legendary “Viswaroopa Darisanam”. He also asked the Maharishi to ask for a boon. The saint refused saying that he did not need anything more, as he had the privilege of seeing the Viswaroopa Darisanam of The Lord. Upon Lord Krishna’s insistence, Uthanga asked Lord Krishna to grant him the boon of finding water, whenever he was thirsty. Lord Krishna granted the boon and left for Dwaraka.

Wandering in the desert, the sage became thirsty and hoping to get water, thought of Lord Krishna. But instead, he was approached by a hunter, who was covered in mud and surrounded by filthy dogs. The hunter repeatedly requested Uthanga to drink the water offered by him. But when Uthanga refused, the Hunter disappeared. Then, when Lord Krishna appeared on the scene, Uthanga complained that it was improper of Him to send a Hunter to quench the thirst of a Maharishi. Lord Krishna then explained that he had requested Indra to give the celestial Ambrosia to Uthanga, but Indra was not willing to give it to so easily to mortal men.

Upon the insistence of Lord Krishna, Indra had finally relented and had told Lord Krishna that he would offer Uthanga the ambrosia as a hunter, provided the maharishi did not refuse it. Krishna had agreed to Indra’s condition. Lord Krishna then told Uthanga that his refusal to accept water from the hunter was improper and told the sage that caste-based discrimination was a grave sin and that will deter a man from the path to salvation.

However, Lord Krishna promised to keep his boon of providing water to the sage. He then blessed Uthanga that rain clouds would appear at his bidding and bring rain showers in the desert. These clouds appear quite rarely, and in the arid desert rain clouds are still known as Uthanga’s clouds (Uthanga Meghangal)

Uthanga Maharishi, then went to Badrinath (100/108) and prayed there for many years and eventually attained Mukthi from the Lord Badri Narayanan.

What are the other specialities of the shrine?

• The Main deity is not made of Stone. He is made of molten clay, oil and herbs. (Sudhai Sirpam)
• Hence there is no Thirumanjanam to the Moola Moorthy, only Thaila Kaapu is done.
• We can still see the pot of Ambrosia at the feet of The Lord Kudamaadu Koothan at this shrine.
• This shrine is said to relieve one of ailments caused by venom and poison.
• Amruthakada Valli Naatchiyaar is housed in a separate sanctum as Thani Kovil Naatchiyaar.

Our Experience:

We had visited this shrine four times, and though we were able to see The Lord only two times, both the times, we had a magnificent darisanam. The temple, although not the largest of the Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal, is reasonably big. The first time we saw Lord Kudamaadu Koothan was on an exploratory visit to Thiru Nangur. We missed seeing Him during the Garuda Sevai Festival (which was our second visit to the temple) as we went late and the main shrine was closed as the Lord had left to attend the festival.

The third time also was an exploratory visit (Primarily to Thiru Kaavalam Paadi (27/108) and yet again we could not see the Lord, because we did not time it properly. Lord Krishna (The presiding deity of both Thiru Kaavalam Paadi and Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram) was as elusive to us as He was to the neighbours of Yashodha, from whose home He used to steal butter. But just like the way he steals butter, He also steals our hearts, the moment we set our sights upon Him.

The fourth time was unique as we had undertaken the daunting task of completing all the 11 Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal in one evening (and we actually succeeded in visiting all of them because of the blessings of The Lord).

We started at Thiru Kaavalam Paadi (27/108) at 1748 Hrs and finally finished at Thiru Paarthan Palli (40/108) at 2028 Hrs. We blitzed through the temple and saw The Lord seated in His playful stance, with one foot on top of the pot of Ambrosia. We also saw the painting on the temple wall which depicts the temple lore clearly and then understood the actual story of the shrine. We received the blessings of Lord Kudamaadu Koothan and his Devi Amruthakada Valli and left with loads of endearing memories.

See you folks at the next temple in the Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal – Thiru Mani Maada Kovil (32/108), the shrine where the “Eleven Garuda Utsavam” takes place, annually.

Loads of love,

Karthick and Rahul.