Sri Paramapurusha Perumal Temple

Overview

The Sri Paramapurusha Perumal Temple is called the 'Jyotirmath temple'. It is located in Joshimath, Chamoli, Uttarakhand and is one of the 108 Divya Desam temples, dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

About the Temple

The temple is 6150 feet above sea level. It acts as a gateway to numerous mountain climbing expeditions. Sri Paramapurusha Perumal temple is glorified in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, a Vaishnava canon, and mangalaasan (devotional songs) was sang by the twelve azhwar saints. The temple is considered as one of the matha (monastic) called uttaramnaya matha, one of the four cardinal mathas or seats of learning founded by Adi Shankara in 8th Century CE. The Theerthams (temple tanks) of this temple are Maanasaras Theertham, Govardhana Theertham and Indira Theertham. And the Vimanam (the tower above the sanctum sanctorum) of this temple is called Govardhana Vimanam.

About the Deity

The chief deity is Paramapurusha Perumal (Lord Vishnu), found in a reclining posture. The idol of the presiding deity was believed to be installed by Adi Shankara. And the goddess of the temple is Parimala Valli Thayaar.

Legend and Stories

Legend goes that when he was 11, Adi Shankaracharya came to Badrikaranya for performing penance. After performing penance for 5 years, he got enlightened under the Amar Kalpavriksha tree. There is a temple dedicated to Lakshmi Narayana. After going further up, one will find Totakacharya cave and Rajarajeshwari temple. Totakacharya was one of the four principal disciples of Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the Advaita philosopher. His original name was Giri (AnandaGiri). He composed Totakashtakam, in praise of Guru Adi Shankara, Tika on the Mandukya Karika, and SrutisArasamuddharana. On top of Adi Shankaracharya cave where, he attained enlightenment there is a mulberry tree which is more than 2500 years old. The Jyoteshwar Mahadeo Temple has a sphatik Shivalingam brought by Adi Shankaracharya himself from Kailash. There is a akhanda jyothi burning all the time. The vatavruksham is an ancient tree with lofty top raising in their full green splendor towards the sky, with strong stems, gigantic boughs, that spoke of such iniquity, of such long years during which they had looked down upon the valley below, where pilgrims came and went, and the things were continually changing, while it stood undisturbed and changeless. Climbing further up, one comes across the Purnagiri Mata temple and swayambu Sankatamochana Hanuman temple dedicated to Goddess Durga and Lord Hanuman respectively. During Samudra manthan (churning of the ocean of milk) along with the Kamadenu, the divine cow providing for all needs. The unique property of the tree is that it never loses a single leaf by itself, it is evergreen and is said to be emanating the deep-seated devotion of Shakaracharya for the Supreme Godhead Vishnu. "Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa narrates one way of gaining insight into the cosmic doctrine of karma is through the parable of the Kalpataru, the wish fulfilling tree." This tree has an astonishing girth of 36 meters.

Festivals

Rama Navami – March/April
Krishna Jayanthi – August/September

Thaayar

The Thaayar of Thiruppirudhi sthalam is Parimalavalli Naachiyaar.

Mangalasasanam

Thirumangai Alwar is the only Alwar who has done Mangalasasanam on this sthala perumal in 10 Paasurams.

Pushkarani

Since, this sthala perumal is found like the same way as the perumal found in Thiruppaarkadal and bhaktas can’t go along with their human body only their Aathma (soul) can reach the bhaktas in their mind itself worships this perumal as the perumal in Paarkadal. Since, the bhaktas worship in their mind (Maanaseegam), the pushkarani is Maanasaras. Other theertham are Govardhana Theertham and Indira Theertham.

Vimaanam

In Krishna avathaar, Sri Kannan protects all the Yadhavas, Aayars and all the cows from the heavy rain through the Govardhana mountain serving them as an umbrella. Likewise, this sthala perumal protects the people here having his Vimaanam as Govardhana Vimaanam.

Nearby Place To Visit

• Badrinath temple
• Badrinath Gopinath Mandir
• Chamoli Gopeshwar Kalpeshwar Temple
• Rudranath Temple
• Nanda Devi Temple
• Nauti, Chamoli Tungnath Temple

Accessibility

The nearest airport to reach the Sri Paramapurusha Perumal temple is the Jolly Grant Airport near Dehradun, which is 293 km away. The nearest railway station to reach the temple is at Rishikesh, which has a small railway terminal. The Haridwar railway junction, 24 km farther from Rishikesh, has train connections to most of the major cities in India. Sri Paramapurusha Perumal temple lies on national highway NH58 that connects Delhi with Badrinath and Mana Pass in Uttarakhand near Indo-Tibet border. Regular buses operate from Rishikesh bus station to the temple. The road distance from Rishikesh to the temple is 251 km via Rudraprayag and Chamoli.

Temple Address

Sri Paramapurshan perumal Temple,
Joshimutt,
Chamoli District,
Uttarakhand.