Thiruparkadal (Ksheerabdhi)

Sthala Purāṇam

Thiruparkadal, the Ksheera Sagara or Ocean of Milk, is one of only two celestial (non-earthly) Divya Desams among the 108 sung in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. It is not a temple of earth but a cosmic abode, also called Vinnulaga Thirupathi. Here the Lord Ksheerabdhinathan reclines upon the thousand-hooded serpent Adisesha in the majestic posture of Yoga Nidra, the cosmic sleep, with Sri Mahalakshmi (Kadalmagal Nachiyar) at his side. The Lord's vimanam is the Ashtanga Vimanam, and the sacred waters are the Ksheerabdhi Theertham itself. Theologically, Thiruparkadal represents the vyuha state of Sriman Narayana, one of the five forms (para, vyuha, vibhava, antaryami, archa) in which the Lord manifests; the Alvar Thirumazhisai, in the Thiruchchanda Viruttham, sings of how the Lord rests upon Adisesha in Thiruparkadal, referring to this vyuha rupam. From this milk-ocean the devas approach Vishnu for refuge in times of distress, and it is the setting of the Ksheerabdhi Mathanam (Samudra Manthana), the churning that yielded amrita. It is the abode from which the Lord, lying in repose yet ever-watchful, descends in his vibhava avataras to protect dharma and his devotees. This celestial shrine received the mangalasasanam of several Alvars, including the three Mudhal Alvars (Poigai, Bhoothath, Pey), Thirumazhisai, Periyalvar, Nammalvar and Thirumangai Alvar, who praised the Lord reclining upon the Ocean of Milk as the source and refuge of all creation.