Srinivasa Perumal Silver Kavacham In Mangalapuram, Namakkal

Srinivasa Perumal Temple is decitated to the hindu God Vishnu located at Mangalapuram in Namakkal. Srinivasa Perumal, the presiding deity, gives darshanam in wonderful standing posture. The Moolavirat is seen standing on a lotus pedestal with four arms. Two of his hands holding conch and chakra with one hand raised in abhaya mudra blessing the devotees and another hand basically on his waist. Mangalapuram is a small village in Namakkal, where Lord Srinivas Perumal graces his devotees in this temple which is surrounded by beautiful nature. Silver kavasam for the 5 feet Srinivasa Perumal was crafted by Karuppaiah Acharyar. One can find the acute and extraordinary artwork done by Karuppaiah Acharyar in the silver kavacham made for Perumal.

Parts Of Srinivasa Perumal Silver Kavacham

Marpu Kavacham With Four Arms Enjoined

Srinivasa Perumal marpu(chest) kavasam is completely handmade with wonderful artworks exquisitely by Karuppaiah Sculptures. Perumal usually appears with rich ornamentation. The chest of the murti is adorned with a pathakkam(pendant), necklace with lotus petal design, chains made of gold, jewellery with depicting floral designs. We have designed every piece of jewellery on the chest of perumal in the most subtle way. Besides these, Perumal is wearing poonal, a sacred thread worn across the body over the left shoulder under the right arm. A designed jewelled belt is tied around his body, a little below his chest. There is a hip belt around his waist with finely carved floral designs. His four arms are decorated with beautiful armlets and all four wrists support well carved bangles. The front right hand is raised in abhaya mudra or the protection assuring posture of the hand, blessing the devotees and we have engraved a beautiful flower on his palm. The front left arm is in the Katyavalambita pose – palm facing the lord with the thumb nearly parallel to the waist which is similar to the hand position of lord Venkathchapathy. Perumal is holding a conch shell (shankha named Panchajanya) between the first two fingers of one hand (left back), a chakra–war discus named Sudarshana in another hand (right back) between two fingures. The conch shell symbolizes all interconnected cyclic existence. The chakra symbolizes the wheel of time, which restores dharma with war if necessary when cosmic equilibrium is overwhelmed by evil. Ornaments and jewels cover Perumal’s chest almost completely. The lord is decked with many jewels which are clearly visible on the kavacham.

Silver Udal (Body) Kavacham And Padham (Feet)

Perumal is adorned with a vesti/dhoti. This vasthram is quite unique; if you look closely you can notice an ornament over the vasthram hanging down bent across the vastra. This kind of ornamentation over vasthram can be seen in Lord Murugaperuman. This ornament was inscribed on the stone statue of Srinivasa Perumal when the statue was made. We have finely engraved this ornament on the silver kavasam, bringing every minute detail on the vasthram. Exquisite artworks can be seen in the vasthram in which flaps on the vastra are quite natural and obvious adding beauty to the kavacham. Twigs and twine motif designs are well inscribed on the border of vasthram elegantly and can also be seen on the vasthram which is seen hanging along either side of his body. The deity also has a katibandham (waistband) made of pearls running over the dhoti. The legs have ornaments near the ankle adorned with thandai and anklets and are fully handcrafted with silver artworks. Feet of Perumal are resting on a rectangular lotus pedestal, intricately designed to replicate a lotus flower. The pedestal is fully handcrafted with beautiful floral designs.

The Crown

The Kreedam(crown) adorning the head of the deity and the Karnapatram adorning the ears shows added beauty. We have fixed a red stone in the centre of the beautifully worked kreedam. And two red stones are fixed in the karnapatram, one on each.

All the details on the stone murti are well engraved on the silver kavasam showcasing the finest intricacies of our expert craftsmanship.

Process Involved In The Making Of Srinivasa Perumal Silver Kavacham

Silver Kavacham Before Design

To make a silver kavacham, the silver must first be melted into a bar, then it is transformed into sheet form with a thickness of 19 kg given in a large rolling machine. Then, by using our hands and hammer we bring the shape of the deity entirely onto the silver sheet. The silver sheet will be blank with only the impression of Perumal’s statue without any designs. This picture shows what a plain silver kavacham looks like. We then place the plain silver kavasam on the stone statue of Srinivasa Perumal to check the fit before nagas/designing. We do this to make sure that the silver kavasam fits the Perumal statue and make corrections if necessary. This image is very special as one could see the true form of Perumal in plain silver kavasam without any jewellery or ornamentation and it’s very rare to get this view.

Nagas/Designing On Silver Kavacham

This image gives the sight of the plain silver kavasam getting nagas work. Nagas means carving intricate/ornamental work. Nagas is a particular art form that has existed since antiquity and is now very rare because intricate designs take on appropriate shapes using a hammer and iron chisel. First, we make a rough sketch of the design on the plain silver kavacham. After sketching out the silver kavasam, it is then hammered out to show the complete features of Perumal his chest, stomach, legs, hands, curvatures of the hands and even the fingerprints inch by inch without missing out on any detail of his body. Beautiful adornments like the pendants, necklace, anklets, and all other jewellery are engraved on the silver kavacham. Each step of design has its level of complexity like – sketching, carving, engraving, and then filing to perfection. All this work is completely handmade using iron porai(similar to a chisel) in the left hand and hammer in the right hand. Every detailed working matter and we follow traditional methods to do nagas, literally we have 1000 varieties of iron chisels to design even the minutest of details. With close detailing we have shown how Srinivasa Perumal looks with jewellery in this kavasam.

Polishing Process Of Silver Kavacham

Once the nagas work is done the silver kavasam will be checked and finally the kavacham is polished to give an exotic finish. When given polish to the silver kavacham the natural white colour changes and kavasam gets a glittery shine. The silver kavacham is manually polished by rubbing with iron wool (chisel-like) which is blunt, soft and curved at the edge. This polish gives a bright and shimmering shine to Perumal silver kavasam adding beauty and richness. This process is done at the last after the silver kavacham is completed fully.

Srinivasa Perumal temple administrators and the village head along with a few representatives of the temple visited our Karuppaiah Sculptures workplace and inspected the progress of the silver kavasam. We captured beautiful memories of these precious moments. The man behind this magnificent artwork of silver kavacham for Srinivasa Perumal is Karuppaiah Acharyar, who is standing at the end on the left in all his simplicity without a shirt.

Silver Shadari

The first step toward approaching spirituality is to become humble by shunning all forms of ego. The Shadari / Sathagopam is the representation of Vishnu’s feet used in almost all the Vaishnavite temples. The ‘Shadari’ is kept near the feet of the lord and then kept on head of the devotees by the priest symbolizes receiving the blessing of the God. The devotees feel an ecstatic pleasure and the divine grace of the God, when the ‘Shadari’ is placed on their head by the priest. Sathagopam which contains the Holy Feet of Perumal, is placed on the head of the devotees after they take theertham. It is a considered as a mark of respect to the Supreme Manifestation. We Karuppaiah Sculptures have beautifully crafted shadari for Srinivasa perumal made of pure quality silver. Two small padukas of perumal are inscribed on the top. This sadari is intricately engraved in designs of lotus petals arranged in three circular rows.

History Of Srinivasa Perumal Temple In Mangalapuram, Namakkal

Srinivasa Perumal temple is located in small village called Mangalapuram, which is 30 kilometers away from Namakkal district. This temple is an enchanting place situated between mountains. The shrine of Srinivasa Perumal is located atop a small hillock. This is a small temple surrounded by mountains, greenery and unsurpassed natural views. Srinivasa Perumal, the main deity graces his devotees in standing position midst lush surroundings. This small temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, mandapam and outer prakaram. Near the temple, there is an ancient peepal tree/sacred fig in front which Ganesh idol, lord Shivan and Nandhikeswar idols are kept. Navagraha is present in this perumal temple which is special about this temple. Ambal and Guru Bhagavan are adorning the temple’s prakaram. The people of this village worship perumal and shivan at same temple which is very rare. This temple is very old built during ancient times. At first, the temple had only the idol of Perumal(main deity) and later the temple was reconstructed and kumbhabishekam was done by the people of the village. Later they decided to make silver kavasam for Perumal and as a blessing and a boon; the work of making silver kavacham was entrusted to karuppaiah Acharyar. It is a privilege and great honour given to karuppaiah Sculptures for making silver kavasam for Srinivasa Perumal.

Significance Of Srinivasa Perumal In Managalapuram

Belief is that by offering prayers to Srinivasa Perumal people who are unmarried will get married.
Srinivasa Perumal help to mitigate the problems the devotees are facing in life, provide success in their endeavors and bestow them with good health and wealth.
It is firmly believed that prayers for promotion in jobs are positively responded by the Lord and enhances self-confidence and shows the path to success in every front of life.
Promotes all-around welfare and a contented frame of mind. Also one gets mind clarity and gets rid of confusions and wavering nature by visiting this temple which is surrounded by beautiful greenery.
Puja and Aarti are performed in this temple. Archana (special puja), anointing and other ceremonies are also performed in this small temple, which is often common in most of the large Perumal temples.

Perumal is enchanting surrounded by scenic beauty radiant like the full moon; with a serene expression and a gentle smile as Srinivasa Perumal in Mangalapuram, Namakkal.

General Facts About Srinivasa Perumal

Srinivasa perumal, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu who is one of the supreme deities in Hinduism is considered to be the real hero, the preserver and protector of the universe.
Srinivasa Perumal, literally refers to a deity of black complexion, considered to be a form of Narayana. Perumal is worshipped mainly among Tamil Hindus in South India, who consider Perumal to be the true name of Vishnu.