page_title: Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple
section_title: Festivals and religious practices
hierarchical_section_title: Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple / Festivals and religious practices
caption_attribution_description: English: Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple
context_page_description: Pandavathoothar Perumal Temple or Thirupadagam located in Kanchipuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Pandava Thoothar Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Rukmini.
  The temple is considered one of three oldest temples in Kanchipuram, the other two being Ulagalantha Perumal Temple and Yathothkari Perumal Temple. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallavas of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagar kings. The temple has three inscriptions on its walls, two dating from the period of Kulothunga Chola I and one to that of Rajadhiraja Chola. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all the shrines and two bodies of water. There is a four-tiered rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, in the temple.
  Pandava Thoothar is believed to have appeared to Pandava.
context_section_description: The temple follows the traditions of the Thenkalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and follows vaikanasa aagama. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day: Ushathkalam at 7 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 10:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Pandava Thoothar and Rukmini. During the last step of worship, nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.
  The major festival of the temple is Krishna Janmasthami, celebrated during the Tamil month of Aavani (August - September). The other major festival of the temple celebrated during Bharani of Karthigai (November–December) in honour of Arulala Peruman Emperumanar.
caption: Image of the vimana of the Thayar shrine
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