காஞ்சி

According to Hindu legend, Saraswati cursed the king of celestial deities, Indra, to become an elephant and roam around the place. He was relieved of the curse with the divine power of Vishnu, who appeared as the mount, Hastagiri. Hastagiri indicates a mount/hill in the form of elephant. Indra, the king of the devas, is believed to have installed the silver and golden lizards in the temple, who were the witness of the ordeal, after being released from the curse of the goddess Saraswati. Brahma performed a yagna here, the site of which was about to be washed away by the fast flowing river Vegavati (Saraswati in the form of river), known today as the Palar River. The temple deity, Vishnu, laid himself flat to stay the flow and the yagna was successfully performed. Vishnu emerged with brilliance of thousand Suns as Varadharajaswamy inside the athi tree, and stayed here permanently until he was submerged in nearby tank since the deity came from yagna done by Brahma (Historically speaking, his placement may have been due to fear of invasion by the Delhi Sultanate). As is the case with the association of South Indian temples with a sacred tree, a name of the temple, Attigiri, is derived from the atti tree (fig), considered sacred to Vaishnavas as well as other Hindus. There is the replacement stone deity found inside the temple, next to the Narasimha shrine. The stone deity is called Devaraja Perumal, whose worship is equated to the Adi Athi Varadharaja Perumal (original idol made from fig tree), that is, two idols being inhabited by the same deity. According to a Hindu legend, Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, separated with his wife Saraswati over a misunderstanding. He performed the ashvamedha sacrifice, seeking boons from Vishnu. Vishnu was pleased by the devotion, and came out from under the earth as a boar, making Saraswati unite with Brahma. Another legend states that the disciples of the sage Gautama were cursed to become lizards. They resided in the temple, and were relieved of the curse by the divine grace of Vishnu. There is a panel in the temple where the two lizards are depicted in the roof of the temple. Thirukkachi Nambigal (also known as Kanchi Purnar) was an ardent devotee of this temple. He used to bring flowers everyday from Poovirundhavalli, where he maintained a garden. He performed the rituals of the Aalavatta Kaingariyam, waving to produce breeze with the help of a hand fan. It is believed that Vishnu as Varadharaja used to converse with him, while he was performing the ritual. Nambi also composed the Devarajaashtakam (a Sanskrit poem of 8 verses) for the presiding deity. Ramanuja, an influential Vaishnava preceptor, is regarded to have received answers to his six questions from Varadharaja. through Thirukkachi Nambigal.