Thirupaadakam Pandava Dhoothar Sri Krishna Temple

The belief behind the worship of the Lord is that He will always protect his devotees just like He always stood by the Pandavas in the Mahabharata because they were righteous. That is why people pray to him with immense devotion and faith. It is believed that performing Adi Pradakshinam and Anga Pradakshinam will rejunvenate all their 72,000 veins and remove all the obstacles from their life. Adi Pradakshinam or circling of the temple is done without missing out a single inch of ground. It is said to increase awareness. Anga Pradakshinam is an act whereby the devotees roll their bodies around the temple.

The mythical story behind the temple is that Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata went to Hastinapur on behalf of the Pandavas to meet Duryodhana and restore peace. The evil Duryodhana hatched a plot to kill Krishna and dug a pit and topped it with twigs and sticks. He planned to make Krishna fall into it by setting up a false stage upon it. Krishna being the Supreme of the Universe knew it all and set the stage crumbling down by his little toe. He then gave a glimpse of his vishwaroopam to Dhritarashtra who was blind. Dhritarashtra saw it and said to the Lord to make him blind once again for he wished to see nothing else ever after seeing the Vishwaroopam. Many years later Janmajeya, the grandson of Arjuna learnt of this episode from Vaisampaayana and wished to see Krishna's vishwaroopam. Seeing his devotion, Krishna gave him his vishwaroopam in the form of “Pandava Dhoota” or the “messenger of the Pandavas”. Thus the lord in this temple is known as Pandava Dhoota.

The festivals that are celebrated here are: - • Panguni Uthiram, which is a South Indian festival, is celebrated during March-April. • Sri Krishna Jayanti is celebrated during August or September. • The famous festival of Diwali or Deepavali is celebrated here with pomp during October or November. • Karthika Bharani is also celebrated here in November or December.