Parthasarathy Kovil
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Parthasarathy Kovil is a temple located in the Triplicane (Tiruvallikeni) district of Chennai in southeast India. It is a Hindu temple to Lord Krishna. It is one of the four major Vaishnavite temples in South India. The other three are Sri Ranganathar Temple of Srirangam, Sri Varadharajar Temple in Kancheepuram and Sri Venkataachalapathi (Balaji) Temple of Tirupathi. The name of this town, Thiruvallikeni, is derived from Thiru-Allik-Keni meaning sacred lily (a type of tulip) flowers that grow in this temple's pond.
According to tradition, Lord Krishna was the charioteer for Arjuna during the Mahabharata war. It was during the same time that he gave Arjuna the Bhagavad Gita. Partha is one of Arjuna's names, and Sarathy means Charioteer. Sri Parthasarathy's face is full of scars created by the arrows of the Great Bhiishma in the Kurukshetra war.
Parthasarathy Kovil is a very old temple (built around 700AD by Pallava Kings) that is popular among devotees. On most days, the devotees are treated to Chakra pongal (Sugar-Pongal), Puliyodarai and thayir sadam (Curd Rice) prasadam (offering).
The Moolavar in ParthaSarathy Koil is VenkataKrishna Perumal and the Utsavar is Parthasarathy Perumal. Parthasarathy Koil is one of the few temples which has the various manifestations of Vishnu. There are sannadhi's for Sri Ranganathar, Sri Ramar, Sri Varadharajar and the most beautiful Narashimhar as Azagiyasingar.