Chandrasooda Perumal Temple, Thiru Nilathingal Thundam

Sthala Purāṇam

The deity is Nilathingal Thundathan (Chandrasooda Perumal), in a standing posture facing west, with Thaayar Ner Oruvar Illa Valli (Nilathingal Thundam Nayagi). Uniquely among the 108 Divya Desams, this Vishnu shrine sits as a small sannidhi within the great Ekambareswarar (Shiva) temple complex at Kanchipuram. The legend connects Vishnu to Goddess Parvati's famous penance here. In one account Parvati playfully closed Shiva's eyes at Kailasa, plunging the universe into darkness; cursed for this, she descended to earth to atone. At Kanchi she fashioned a lingam of sand beneath a mango tree and undertook severe penance, the same lore underlying the Ekambareswarar and Kamakshi traditions. To test her, Shiva sent intense heat through Surya, and the mango tree caught fire. Unable to bear the heat that threatened her penance, Parvati prayed to her brother Vishnu. Vishnu intervened by taking the fragment of the moon (Chandra, 'thingal,' the 'thundam' or piece) from Shiva's matted locks and using its cooling rays to soothe the flames, allowing the tree and the penance to be preserved. Because Vishnu bore away that fragment of the moon, He is called Nilathingal Thundathan, and the place Nila-thingal-thundam. This Divya Desam is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham in a single pasuram by Thirumangai Alvar.

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