Parthanapalli Temple is one of the Thirunangoore Divyadesa temple. It is located at 4 kms distance from Thituvenkadu. Lord Thamarayalkelvan is the main deity of the temple. The idol of the Lord holds a sword in the hand. The idol of the lord can be seen in standing posture with Goddess Sridevi and Bhoodevi.
The temple has a Raja gopuram of three storey, single prakaram with Maha mandapa, artha mandapa and a main sanctum. A small sanctum of Garudwar facing lord can be seen at the entrance of the main sanctum. There is a small sanctum of Lord Hanuman. The tower of the temple is 75 feet tall. The speciality of this temple is that Sri Rama appears here with two consorts, that could not be seen in other temples. Kolavalli Rama can be seen next to the procession deity holding a bow.
As per the ancient scriptures, Saint Varunan, Agasthiyar, Gowathamar and Baradwajar meditated and worshipped the Lord at this spot. God appeared in front of them in the form of Parthasarathy perumal. It is also believed that King Dasaratha performed Aswamedha Yagna here. He was sure that Lord Narayana himself would be born to him as his son. Lord Narayana appeared before the king with his two consorts. Since it was not possible to have such a darshan of the lord during the Ramavatha period, King Dasaratha was greatly delighted. This rare scene is sculpted and kept in this temple showing the Lord stepping out of the Yagna Kund with his consorts.
History of Thamarayalkelvan Parthanapalli Temple
In the older times, Pandavas lost their wealth and land to Kaurav’s and were forced to live in an exile. During their exile one day Arjuna was searching for water in the forest to quench his thirst. He saw Saint Agasthya meditating under a tree with a water pot kept beside him. Arjuna was very thirsty and could not wait for his meditation to get over. He obstructed his meditation and begged for water. He opened the pot with his permission but did not find even a drop of water in it. He looked at the sage with confusion. The sage smiled and said that he should approach Lord Krishna as he is always ready to help him.
Arjuna realized his mistake and prayed to Lord Krishna. The Lord appeared before him, gave him a knife and said that wherever he would dig the earth with the knife there would be a spring giving him water. The place where this incident took place is called Parthanpalli according to ancient scriptures.