Naan Madhiya Perumal Temple, Thalaichanga Nanmadiyam

Sthala Purāṇam

Thiru Thalaicchanga Naanmathiyam, the temple of Naan Madhiya Perumal at Thalachangadu near Akkur (Nagapattinam), is one of the Divya Desams sung in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, with mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Alvar. The sthala puranam centres on Chandra, the moon god. Chandra had married the twenty-seven daughters of Daksha but showed favour only to Rohini; the slighted Daksha cursed him so that his lustre would wane periodically. In a related episode, Chandra was also afflicted after taking away Brihaspati's wife Tara, by whom Budha (Mercury) was born. To regain his brilliance, Chandra worshipped Vishnu at three sthalams, Srirangam, Indalur and here at Thalachangadu. Pleased, Vishnu restored Chandra's radiance periodically and is said to have worn the crescent moon upon His own head, which is why, unusually, it is Vishnu and not Shiva who bears the crescent here. The place is named Thalaicchanga Naanmathiyam because it was once a forest of conch-shaped flowers called sangu poo (Clitoria ternatea) in Tamil, cankam meaning conch. The presiding deity faces east and is worshipped as Naanmadiya Perumal, with his consort as Thalaichanga Nachiar. The temple has a single-tiered gopuram, one precinct, and the sacred tank in front is the Chandra Pushkarani, fittingly named for the moon god whose devotion founded the shrine.

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📍 11.12439, 79.79444

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