Thiruchenkundrur

Thiruchenkundrur is traditionally enumerated as number 87 among the 108 Divya Desams — the sacred abodes of Sri Maha Vishnu sung by the Alvars.

This divya desa lies on the Travandrum-Emakulam via Kollam railway line. Itis also connected by bus. This is one of the five places where the Pandavas are believed to have installed the idols worshipped by them. There is a popular belief that when the Pandavas were travelling incognito, they toured extensively in the South mostly in the region now known as Kerala. Many of the places in Kerala, particularly Trivandrum area, still bear the imprint of the association of the Pandavas as is evident from the names of several places in Kerala. For example, very near Chengannoor there is a place known as Pandavapara. As stated earlier, when the Pandavas left Kerala they installed the idols which they were worshipping in five different places. These five places are in and around Chengannoor. They are the temples at Thiruchittat i.e. Chengannoor itself; Thiruppuliyur (to the west four miles), Thiruvanmandoor (to the northwest five miles), Thiru Aranmula (to the north ten miles), Thirukodithanam (to the north east from Thiruvalla four miles).

The moolavar here is known as Imaya Varappar. He is seen in a standing posture facing west. The Thayar is known as Sengamalavalli. The theertha is known as Sanga theertha as also Thiruchittrar. The vimanam i.e. temple tower above garbagriha is known as Jagajyothi vimanam. The Perumal appeared to Shiva.

The moment Chenganoor is mentioned people immediately think of only Bhagavathi Amman temple at Chengannoor as that is the more famous one. It is one of the powerful temples for Sakthi. However, the temple for Vishnu, one of the divya desa is also located at Thiruchittar, about one kilometer from Chengannoor on the Chengannoor Mannar route. It is widely believed that the idol at this temple was consecrated and worshipped by Dharmaputra, the eldest of the Pandavas. The tributary of river Pampa flows very close to the temple and it may be one of the reasons why the place is known as Thiruchittrar i.e. holy tributary river. In course of time, that name got corrupted as Thiruchittar, later Thiruchengannoor and much later as merely Chengannoor. The temple stands in a sprawling compound of about three to four