Gunaseelam Temple History – Story of Gunaseelam Perumal Temple

Gunaseelam Temple near Trichy in Tamil Nadu is dedicated to Bhagvan Vishnu – who is worshipped here as Perumal. The history of the temple can be found in the Puranas. A story mentioned in the Bhavishyotara Purana gives details of the origin of the temple.

Once while returning from Himalayas, Sage Thalpiya along with his disciple Gunaseela reached Tirupati. They stayed at Tirupati and Sage Gunaseela was enamored by Tirupati Balaji. He wished Venkateswara will appear at Gunaseelam to bless devotees.

On returning back to Gunaseelam, the sage undertook severe penance on the banks of Kaveri River. The severe penance impressed Balaji, who appeared before Sage Gunaseela and promised to stay at Gunaseelam till the end of Kali Yuga.

At the end of Dwapara Yuga, Sage Gunaseela decided to retire to Naimisaranyam. So he asked his disciple to continue the daily puja of Sri Balaji.

But soon there was a huge flood in Kaveri River, the disciple could not continue the pujas. Soon the ashram was overpowered by nearby forest and wild animals roamed in the ashram. The murti which was then abandoned got hidden in a pit.

Then Kali Yuga started, once during the rule of Chola King Nyana Varma a miracle happened in his kingdom. Milk poured into a pit was disappearing as if someone was drinking it up. Soon the king arrived with his army. Suddenly there was a voice in the sky which asked the king to pour more milk into the pit. The king poured thousands of liters of milk in the pit and soon the murti of Balaji appeared as Prassana Venkatesan.

The king then built the temple and laid down daily pujas.

It is today believed that visiting Gunaseelam Prassana Venkatachalapathy Temple is equal to visiting Tirupati Balaji Temple.