Temple on white hillock – The Hindu

Thiruvellarai is a divya desam near Tiruchi. The name comes from the white hillock on which the temple has been built. The temple has a connection to king Shibi of the Ikshvaku dynasty, to which Rama belonged, said K.B .Devarajan in a discourse. Shibi always abided by the principles of dharma. One day a dove, which was being hunted down by a hawk, flew to Shibi for protection. Shibi obviously could not let down a bird that had come to him for help. But at the same time, the hawk was not doing anything wrong, for it was only hunting the dove for food. If Shibi refused to hand over the dove, the hawk would have to go without food. So Shibi offered his flesh to the hunter as a substitute. The hunter could take from Shibi as much flesh as equalled the weight of the bird. But the scale did not tilt in favour of his flesh, no matter how much flesh was taken from him. So, he offered up his entire body to the hawk. It turned out, however, that the dove was Agni, and the hawk was Indra. The devas were only testing Shibi to see if he would keep to dharma under all circumstances.

One day Shibi went hunting, and chased a white boar, which ran behind a bush and disappeared. Sage Markandeya who was doing penance nearby asked Shibi to do an abhishekam to the bush. When he did so, an idol of Vishnu in standing posture emerged. That is the murthy that we see in the Thiruvellarai temple, and the Lord is called Pundreekaksha (the lotus-eyed One) here. Lotus eyes are the distinguishing feature of the Supreme One, says the Chandogya Upanishad. The Lord has only kalyana gunas, that is auspicious qualities. He is the One adored by Lakshmi. His qualities never change, no matter what avatara He takes, and the same qualities are to be seen in the archa form too.