CHENNAI : The small but historically rich village of Pon Vilainda Kalathur (P.V.Kalathur) near Chengalpattu, has three Vishnu temples and a shrine for Siva.
Of the three Vishnu temples, two are for Rama. One of these is the Pattabhirama Swami (Kodandarama Swami) temple, which houses the unique image of Rama with Sita on His lap and Lakshmana standing beside Him. Hanuman faces the deities in this sanctum.
Adjacent to the Pattabhirama Swami temple is the shrine for Darbhasayana Sethurama facing north. The entrance to this temple is through a doorway in the compound wall of the Pattabhirama temple. The utsava-murti (bronze image) of Rama worshipped in the Darbhasayana Sethurama temple was found in a well in front of the main sanctum inside the temple’s premises with the words ‘Darbha Sayana Rama’ inscribed on His crown and ‘Tirupullani Sethu Rama’ etched at the base.
This beautiful bronze image of Rama has, like most of the other images of this deity, a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. But what makes this murthi unique is that each of the arrows in the quiver on His shoulder look different. The utsava-vigrahas of Sita and Lakshmana were made later and worshipped here.
The stone image, now in worship in the sanctum, made later and consecrated here, looks just like the Rama image in the Adi Jagannatha Perumal temple at Tirupullani (Ramanthapuram district) where this deity reclines in Veera Sayanam on a bed of darbha grass. The temple at Thirupullani is a well-k.