Vanamutti Perumal Temple of Kozhikuthi,TN Only Temple In This Part With Moolavar Idol Made Of Athi Maram (Fig Tree)

Navrang India January 11, 2025

Vanamutti Perumal temple, Kozhikuthi, TN tripadvisor.com

Vanamutti Perumal temple, Kozhikuthi, TN tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com

Vanamutti Perumal temple  in the village of Kozhikuthi near Mayiladuthurai (about 5 km), Nagapatnam district is a unique one. The presiding deity  Sri Srinivasa Perumal. The moolavar, 15 feet tall  is made from a single Athi Maram (Fig tree) and  such wooden deities of Perumal are considered sacred. 

Puri jagannath temple and three wooden idolsshreekhetra.com

This wooden deity is almost akin to  the three deities - god  Jagannath, God Balabadra and their sister goddess Subadhra - of  world famous Jagannath temple, Puri, Odisha. At Puri the deities 
with large round eyes and a symmetric face, notably lacking hands and legs are  made from sacred wood known as daru brahma Sacred Neem wood specially grown on the temple lands);  the idols  are  ceremoniously replaced every 12 or 19 years through the Nabakalebara ritual.  They are called Trimurti  and including the Sudarsana Chakra, they are called Chaturdhamurti
Vanamutti Perumal,  Kozhikuthi, TN   feeds.abplive.com

Vanamutti Perumal,  Kozhikuthi, TN empleadvisor.com

In the case of wooden idol made from Athi tree, as per Agama sastras, it is strong, durable  and can last for centuries. Most importantly,  it is resistant to water. This kshetram is well-known for the cure of skin diseases. Here,   Moolavar Perumal is carved in  a standing posture with four hands,  the 4th one showing Abhya mudra (''I protect thee''). 

 Athivaradarar idolKanchi thehindu.com

At  Kanchipuram Varadharaja Perumal temple the  Athivaradarar idol kept inside the temple tank for decades was shot into prominence and became a national news in July 2019.  The Athivaradarar idol adorned with decorations was kept for Darshan during a particular period. Lakhs of devotees had  gone past the idol at the Varadharaja Perumal temple to get his divine blessings. The wooden idol did not show any major damages after having been underwater for 40 years. Last time he reappeared from the temple tank was in July 1979.  In 2019, during a short period , it is said about 17 lakh devotees had  darshan of Athi Varadarar at the Kanchi temple.

 Historical Kozhikuthi  temple is the only one south of Kanchipuram city that I know of  where the  Moolavar idol is  made entirely  of  Athi Maram (fig tree) - one giant log of wood was  used.   The temple  is roughly 6  to 7 km from Mayiladuthurai town and the village Kozhikuthi can be accessed  very easily and is well connected with other towns and cities in India
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Sri Marga Sahayeswarer tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com

The legend has it  a local ruler Nirmalan inflicted with severe and painful  skin disease with no cure in sight accidentally ran into  a sage. Being compassionate the learned sage advised him to chant a mantra daily.  One day upon chanting the mantra, the king suddenly  heard a Asariri voice from above, “This is the voice of Lord Vishnu.  The affliction of severe skin disease is due to sins - dosha  committed by you.  To get rid of  the disease caused by your past sins, walk along the Cauvery bank and pray at Sri Marga Sahayeswarer (Lord Shiva) at Moovalur''. 

Accordingly, the king walked along the Cauvery river and prayed to the Moolavar at the Shiva temple,  Responding to his intense  prayer, Lord Shiva asked the king to travel north and pray at Vanamutti Perumal temple in Kozhikuthi after bathing in the river Cauvery.

On the river bank after the bath, the king  had a wonderful divine experience that no one  could  ever think of. On the tall  well- grown fig tree (athi maram) the ruler  saw Sri Vishnu (Narayanan) in Visvaroopam (in giant size, each hand  with 4 arms  each arm with conch, divine disc, mace and the fourth showing abhya mudra). It was a rare, divine vision.

 The jubilant king fully relieved from the dreadful skin  disease   surrendered to the lord and relinquished his royal duty and began to engage in penance. Over a period of time, he became a sage called Pippalar.  Since  sage Pippalar had a permanent relief from sins - Kodi Hathi Dosham, this place is also called  Kodi Hathi Papa vimochana  puram.

The belief is sin committed by us knowingly or unknowingly will be removed for good if a person repents it and remains  reformed till his end. Merciful god will pardon  him provided he  does not commit sins again. 

The Maratha ruler Raja Serfoji ( 1777 - 1832), the last ruler of the Bhonsle dynasty of the Maratha principality of Tanjore  visited  this temple on the advice of sage Pippalar  and prayed to the lord to get rid of his blemish /sin he committed during wars. He bathed in the Cauvery for 48 days and then prayed to the lord. It is said the lord gave him darshan and later the ruler had a tall wooden idol carved out of a single fig tree - Athi tree and installed it as moolavar as per Agama sastras. Lord's consort  Bhumi Devi is on the left side and other consort Mahalakshmi is on the chest of the idol.  Since the idol is a wooden one, no anointing / abhishekas is done to the deity, only ''kappu  (herbal mix) sathuthal'' is done by the temple priests. The sanctum / garbhagriha is umbrella shaped. In 2022 temple consecration (maha Samrokshakam) was done. 

Raja Serfoji made additions by constructing the prathakshana paths prakarams around the sanctum.  Presently, there is one prakaram in this temple.  The temple tank is called ''Pippalar Thertham'' where, the sage was cured of his skin disease. There is a stone image of Pippalar in the temple of ''Marga Sahayeswarar.  

This 800 year old temple is yet another rare Vishnu temple in India with 15 feet tall Moolavar made of Athi wood.  The temple  is roughly 6  to 7 km from Mayiladuthuai town and the village Kozhikuthi can be accessed  very easily and is well connected with other towns and cities in India. 


Kozhi Kuthu  Van Mutti Perumal, Dinamalar: Bakthi weekly Magazine dated 18 july 2019.