040 Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi

  1. Our dear lord who ate the butter that the cowherd women gave him, slept on a banyan leaf at the end of the eon, drank the milk of the devil Putanā, broke the two marudu trees, and who measured the world and the sky with his two feet at king Mahabali’s sacrifice, stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi in the southern land where the Maṇṇi river flows among the groves with its abundant water and coconut, banana and tall kamugu trees grow.

  2. Our dear lord, the cloud-colored Kaṇṇan who grazed the cows, churned the milky ocean for the gods, and fought with the Rākshasas and made their heads roll on the ground stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyangudi where blossoming cherundi and budding punnai plants bloom in the groves and lined bees swarm, drinking honey and singing sweet music.

  3. Our lord who entered the pond and danced on the head of the poisonous snake Kaliyan stirring up the water and afflicting him and making many diamonds spill out from his head stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi where the sound of music for a play acted by stately women spreads everywhere, reaching the sky and roaring like thunder.

  4. Our dark cloud-colored lord with an eagle banner who protected the cows, fought with Kamsan and sleeps on the milky ocean stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyangudi on the southern bank of the Maṇṇai river whose waves deposit gold and diamonds on the shores, a place filled with diamond-studded palaces and forts where flags fly.

  5. The lovely-eyed Thirumāl who swallowed the whole earth and spat it out and fought in the Bharatha war and drove the chariot for Arjuna stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi where vāḷai fish living in the fields, frightened when farmers plow the land, decide, “This is not the place for us!” and move to other beautiful ponds .

  6. Our god Rama who shot cruel arrows from his beautiful bow at the army of the Rakshasas of Lanka surrounded with oceans and destroyed them, making their army fly away like cotton in the wind stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyangudi surrounded with flourishing fields where kayal fish that live in the wet mud glitter after eating ripe banana fruits that have fallen from the trees.

  7. Our god took the form of a dwarf, went to the sacrifice of the Asuran king Mahabali who thought he could do anything he wanted, asked for three feet of land, grew tall in all directions and measured the earth and the sky. He stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi where cuckoo birds living in beautiful alli groves call to the god Veḷḷiyār, exclaiming, “Hari, Hari!” and he hurries to them and gives them his grace.

  8. Our lord Māyan who took the form of a lion and split open the chest of Hiraṇyan, the king of the Asurans when he vexed the gods, the kings of the sky, stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi where the jewels studding the pillars of the palaces shine so bright it is hard to know whether it is day or night.

  9. Our lord who rests on a snake bed and gives his grace to his devotees as the gods in the sky join together, chattering about his good nature and praising him stays in the temple in Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi where fragrant lotuses bloom and sugarcane and abundant good paddy plants sway in the wind while beautiful male swans play with their mates.

  10. Kaliyan with a strong spear, the chief of Thirumangai where bees swarm in the groves, composed ten Tamil pāsurams praising the god of Thiruveḷḷiyanguḍi who took the form of a boar in ancient times, split open the earth and brought the earth goddess up from the underworld, and rests on the milky ocean as clear waves stroke his feet. If fortunate devotees sing these pāsurams, dancing and praising him, they will rule this world surrounded with the roaring oceans.