Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval

Vaishnavite Temples, Tirunelveli District

God

Navaneetha Krishnan, facing east

Goddess

Thaayar facing east

Other Deities

Garudan, Ramanujar, Azhwars

Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval has two Prakarams. The outer prakaram is large and devoid of any shrines. The inner Prakaram houses the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord. A maha mandapam, Ardhamantapam lead into the sanctum sanctorum of the main deity who is seen as a small boy with butter in both of his little hands. This idol is made of Salagrama stone. There are many beautiful carvings here including from the Bhagavatha Purana, Mahabharata, and Ramayana. The Vimaana of the main deity has stucco images of Kannappar giving his to lord shiva, Rama piercing 7 trees with one arrow, This place was also called Veera Kerala Puram after the Venad Kings. In the ancient days, the village used to have learned scholars and the chanting of Vedas used to be heard all the time. A large and beautiful temple tank is on the south side of the temple. East of that tank is a small dilapidated Shiva Temple.

Holy Water (Theertham) – Gowri Theertham, Prabha Theertham

Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – No information

Vimaanam – Raya Vimanam

History

Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval is said to have been constructed by the Travancore Kings. There are inscriptions on the walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the details of which are not available as of now. Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval was restored in the year 2000.

Legend

Tamiraparani Mahatmeyam refers to this place as ‘Jothirvanam’ and records the existence of Gowri Theertham and Prabha Theertham. A cowherd who was once sleeping was shielded from the sun by a hooded snake. This was seen by another boy who said that he will go on to become an important person. It so happened that the cowherd became a minister in the Travancore Kingdom. He came back to the same place and built the Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval temple. Venrimalai Kaviraya who worked at the Tiruchendur Temple sat here at Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval and wrote the Tamil version of Tiruchendur Puranam from its original Sanskrit version. He is said to have lived in the 18th Century CE.

Directions

Navaneetha Krishnan Melaseval is about 19 kilometers west of Tirunelveli on the Ambasamudram road. The temple is on the western side of the village.

Stay and Food

None locally. The closest is Tirunelveli.

Vaishnavite Temples

Navaneetha Krishnan, Melaseval