Deepaprakasar Perumal Temple, Thiruthanka (Thooppul)

Sthala Purāṇam

The presiding deity at Thiruthanka (Thooppul) is Sri Deepaprakasar, known in Tamil as Vilakkoli Perumal, the 'lamp-light Lord,' standing with consort Maragathavalli Thaayar. The sthala puranam centres on Lord Brahma, who wished to perform an Ashwamedha Yagna at Kanchipuram but proceeded without honouring his consort Saraswati. Angered, she caused darkness to envelop the world (in one version inciting demons), so that the ritual could not be conducted by any light. Unable to complete the yagna, Brahma surrendered at the feet of Sriman Narayana, who manifested as a brilliant jyoti, a radiant lamp-light, that dispelled the darkness and illuminated the sacrifice. Because He gave the 'vilakku oli' (lamp light), He is called Vilakkoli Perumal and Deepaprakasar. The Lord also reconciled Brahma and Saraswati. The supreme glory of this Divya Desam in Sri Vaishnavism is that Thooppul is the avatara sthalam, the birthplace, of Swami Vedanta Desika (Venkatanatha, 1268-1370 CE), one of the greatest acharyas after Ramanuja. He has a separate shrine here, alongside Lord Lakshmi-Hayagriva, the form of Vishnu as the deity of knowledge whom Desika venerated and from whom he received divine grace. The name Thooppul is traced to the dense darbha (kusha) grass of the region; Desika is praised as 'Thooppul Vedanta Desikan.' The kshetram is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Thirumangai Alvar.

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