Sundaravarada Perumal Temple, Uthiramerur

Uthiramerur has a long recorded history. The Hindu (2008), citing the archaeologist R. Nagaswamy, reports that the Pallava king Nandivarman II established the village around 750 CE and that it was later ruled by the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Sambuvarayars, Vijayanagara rulers and Nayaks. Wikipedia states, from the temple's inscriptions, that Nandivarman II built the temple on the model of the Vaikunta Perumal temple at Kanchipuram, which also has stacked sanctums.

According to The Hindu, the temples of Uthiramerur carry many inscriptions, including those of Rajaraja Chola I, his son Rajendra Chola I and the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya, and both Rajendra Chola and Krishnadevaraya visited the village. Wikipedia also lists inscriptions of Parantaka Chola I and Kulothunga Chola I recording gifts to the temple. The village is best known for the 10th-century inscriptions describing the election of its village assembly by the Kudavolai (pot-ticket) system; The Hindu explains that these are on the walls of the former assembly hall, now the Vaikunta Perumal temple, and not on this temple.

The temple is administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu, according to Wikipedia. The Hindu reported in 1997 that a renovation was then under way, and Wikipedia notes that the gateway tower was rebuilt in 1998 with sculptures of Vishnu's forms and of Vaikhanasa teachers.

Architecture and sacred features

Wikipedia describes a temple of about two acres within granite walls, with a five-tier rajagopuram and the temple tank, Vairamegha Tataka, which is mentioned in many inscriptions. The ground-floor sanctum holds the standing, four-armed Sundaravarada with Sridevi and Bhudevi; around it, facing south, west and north, are Achyuta Varada, Aniruddha Varada and Kalyana Varada. Steps lead to the first-floor sanctum of the seated Vaikunta Varada, and from there to the top shrine of Ranganatha (Ananta Padmanabha) reclining on the serpent Adisesha, with Bhudevi and the sage Markandeya.

The vimana over the sanctum is called the Ashtanga Vimana and carries sculptures of different forms of Vishnu, according to Wikipedia. The Hindu's 1997 account mentions several mandapams in the outer courtyard, including a hundred-pillared hall, and two female door guardians at the entrance said to represent the Ganga and Yamuna. The goddess Anandavalli has a separate shrine south of the main shrine, and there are smaller shrines for Lakshmi Narasimha, Rama, Andal and Vedanta Desika.