Devapiran Perumal Temple (Irattai Tirupati - Mel)

Sthala Purāṇam

Tholaivillimangalam, on the banks of the Thamiraparani in Thoothukudi district, is celebrated as the Irattai Tirupati ('twin Tirupati') because two Divya Desam shrines stand close together, about a hundred yards apart. This entry is the Mel (upper) temple of Devapiran, also venerated as Srinivasan, where Vishnu gives darshan standing (ninra kolam), facing east, with Lakshmi on his chest; his consort is worshipped as Karunthadankanni, and shrines for Padmavathi and Alarmelmangai are also present. The sthala puranam explains the village name: the sage Athreya Suprabha, while cleaning his ritual ground, found a balance (thulaam) and a bow (vil). When he touched them, they turned into a man and woman who had been cursed by Kubera; the sage's touch granted them release (sabha vimochana). Because both the thulaam and the vil obtained liberation, the place became 'Thulam-Vil-Mangalam', which evolved into Tholaivillimangalam; the balance symbolizes the Lord's impartiality and the bow the ideal of devotion. In the Navagraha scheme of the Nava Tirupati, the Devapiran (upper) shrine of the Irattai Tirupati is the Rahu sthalam, while the twin Aravindalochanar shrine is the Ketu sthalam. Nammalvar sang both twin shrines together in his Tiruvaymoli, voicing the love-longing of Parankusa Nayaki for the Lord; during the Vaikasi Garuda Sevai festival his idol is carried on the Anna Vahanam through the surrounding paddy fields and his pasurams for each of the nine Thamiraparani temples are recited.

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