To many, ‘Dakshina Deepalayam’ sounds unfamiliar but Nanganallur is also called by that name. There is a puranic lore which precedes the germination of the Lakshmi Narasimha temple. This spiritual history is handed down to generations by savants and pundits.

Sage Jamadagni, Lord Parasurama’s father, had an inexplicable urge to have a darshan of Lord Narasimha (who is the fourth incarnation of Mahavishnu). In order to realise his dream, he performed a ‘yagna’ in a place which is now called Nanganallur. The flames of agni from the yagna reached the Almighty reclining on the serpent bed. The all-pervading cosmic protector decided to grant the wish of the sage by appearing before him.

Thus, Lord Narasimha, the epitome of love and compassion, appeared before the sage, sporting sanku and chakra (conch and disc) and Lakshmi seated on his lap. The sage, on seeing the dazzling effulgent image of God became ecstactic and stood speechless. Jamadagni, not satisfied with enjoying the divine form of the Lord, wanted mankind also to worship Lord Narasimha. Thus, he appealed to God to bless the devout multitude in the same celestial form.

'Katradhu Tamizh' Ram's next Diwali in Suburbs Rajini Still In A Dilemma! அஜீத் பேட்டி? ராம் இயக்கத்தில் சேரன்? கமல் பாராட்டிய டைட்டில்்

The cosmic couple, Lakshmi and Narasimha, consented to reside there to bless the devotees. With no trace of ‘Ugraha’, Lord Narasimha assumed the form of ‘Shanthamurti’ with Lakshmi.

The flames from the agni reached the abode of Mahavishnu - Sri Vaikuntam. The ‘deepam’ radiated from the sacred fire was so intense that this place became ‘holy’ and was called ‘Dakshina Deepalayam’ since it is situated south of the Vindhyas.

Thus Dakshina Deepalayam came to be called ‘Nangai Nallur’, as Nangai denotes Mahalakshmi. Since Mahalakshmi resides in this area, Nangainallur later on became Nanganallur.

In MMTC Colony, there was a spiritual congregation which wanted to build a temple for Lord Krishna and formed a ‘samajam’ called Sri Krishna Bhakta Jana Sabha in 1974. It chose an area (koil maniyam) and installed Lord Krishna made of paper mache in a spot where the temple now exists. S V Santhanam and M Venkatapathy Naidu were responsible for acquiring the sprawling ground.

The members had an inkling about the presence of some icons buried in the same area. Even though they had tested the soil, they waited for a ‘divine intervention’ to progress on the temple. Subburaman and Siva Sankaran roped in a Namboodhri from Kerala to perform a ‘Ashta Mangala Prasnam’. The divine order was obvious through the prasnam. It revealed some strange indications. Some startling discoveries were also made. The answer will be revealed next week.

(To be continued) - Part II