Detailed information about the temples

Architecture: The temple was originally constructed by the Pallava Dynasty in 8th Century AD. Later the Vijayanagar rulers reformed the construction. The Mandapas (Pillars) and Gopurams are decorated with intricate and colourful carvings. The architecture of the temple clearly displays the traditional Dravidian style of artwork and craftmanship.

Importance of the temple: The temple is considered to be one of the ancient Vaishnavite shrine and is one of the 108 Divya Desam of Lord Vishnu. One of the characteristic features of this temple is that it has deities of the four avatars or incarnations of Lord Vishnu: Narasimha (Lion), Varaha (Boar), Rama, and Venkata Krishna. In fact, this is one such temple where you may find five Perumals (God) in the same sanctum and all of them are Moolavars (Main Diety). Almost all temples in South India have different sanctum for each diety and an exclusive chamber for the Moolavar. Another important feature of this temple is that Lord has a moustache.

Famous for: The temple is extremely renowned for its Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations wherein devotees pour in masses. The other well-known characteristic of the temple is the Sakkarai Pongal (Sweet Pongal) offered as prasadam. The temple has a famous tank called Pagal Pathu. It is said that a dip in here is supposed to give a lot of prosperity.

Legend: "The main diety in this temple (Lord Krishna) can be seen with a striking moustache. This is a notable feature since you may not come across any diety with a moustache. Legend says that, when the battle of Kurukshetra became inevitable, Lord Krishna (Was the charioteer of Arjuna) declared that both Pandavas and Kauravas were his nephews and hence he would not fight the battle with the help of weapons. On the ninth day of the Kurukshetra war, the Kauravas were supreme under the leadership of Bheeshma. At this moment, Lord Krishna motivated Arjuna to take initiative and defeat his enemy. On Arjuna’s hesitation Krishna jumped down in fury, and took up his discus. Seeing this, Bheeshma admitted defeat to him and Arjuna requested him not to kill Bheeshma, as it would have been against Krishna's promise to take up weapons in the war. It is believed that it is this image of Krishna is enshrined in the temple with a discus. The idol of Parathasarathy truly represents this beauty. The Lord is majestic and unarmed yet he radiates an effective power. Another legend says that the Chola ruler Sumati Raja Chola was a great devotee of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati and desired to see him in the form of Lord Krishna. Pleased by his devotion, the Lord appeared as Parthasarathy in Triplicane. Hence, the name of the Moolavar (main diety) is also known as Lord Venkatakrishnan. Also, you can see Lord's Parthasarathy’s face is full of scars created by the arrows of the Great Bhishma in the Kurukshetra war. "

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