Thiruchenkunroor Divya dEsam (aka ThiruchitrAru)

This is one of the six divya dEsams that can be worshipped by making TiruvallA town as the travel base. This place is also referred to as Chengannur.

Location and Access:

Thiruchenkunroor (or Chengannur) is a railway station that is located on the rail route from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam via Kollam. Chengannur has hotels and chowltries. It is a fairly big town. It is also located 10 km south of TiruvallA town.

The Temple:

The temple is fairly big and built in the typical kEraLA divya dEsam style, with plenty of open space. The thAyAr here is known as Senkamalavalli and the Lord here is known as imaiyavarappan. The Lord is in a standing posture, facing west. There is a temple tank here called the sanka theertham.

Legends and History:

There are 5 divya dEsams in the TiruvallA area in kEraLA that are associated with each of the five pAndavAs of the mahAbhArathA. Of these, Thiruchenkunroor is associated with the eldest of the pAndavAs – YudhistirA. Legend has it that, YudhistirA was very unhappy with his own act of lying to his AchAryA (drOnA)during the mahAbhArathA war. YudhistirA took bath in the sacred TiruchitrAru river here and worshipped the Lord at this Divya dEsam and regained his peace of mind.

AzhwAr mangaLAsAsanams:

SrI nammAzhwAr: 3480-3490

[Note: The numbering convention for the pAsurams seems to differ in various Divya Prabandham books. In some Divya Prabandham books, the same pAsurams by srI nammAzhwAr are listed as verse numbers 2887-2897.] 

A sample pAsuram:

என் அமர் பெருமான் இமையவர் பெருமான் இரு நிலம் இடந்த எம் பெருமான்

முன்னை வல்வினைகள் முழுது உடன் மாள என்னை ஆள்கின்ற எம் பெருமான்

தென் திசைக்கு அணிகொள் திருச்செங்குன்றூரில் திருச்சிற்றாற்றங்கரை மீபால்

நின்ற எம் பெருமான் அடி அல்லால் சரண் நினைப்பிலும் பிறிது இல்லை எனக்கே 

In this pAsuram, Sri nammAzhwAr states that he will never forget the feet of the Lord of ThiruchenkunrUr, which is located on the banks of the ThiruchitrAru river. This Lord is the One who is seated  in the AzhwAr’s heart; He is also the Lord of the demi-gods. He rules over AzhwAr, having destroyed the latter’s past sins.  

Sri Senkamalavalli thAyAr samEtha Sri imaiyavarappan thiruvadigaLaE saraNam.