Keezhperumpallam

Keezhperumpallam ('lower great village') is a Divya Desam in Sirkazhi taluk, Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Thadalan Perumal (also associated with Trivikrama) — the long-striding Vishnu whose cosmic steps measured the universe. Thirumangai Alvar sang pasurams for this kshetra in the Periya Thirumozhi. 'Keezhmai' distinguishes it from 'Mela' (upper) variants of place-names in Tamil geography, suggesting this was the lower village in a pair of settlements. The Nagapattinam district's remarkable concentration of Divya Desams — eleven in all — makes the Sirkazhi belt particularly significant for Vaishnava pilgrims. Keezhperumpallam is one of the smaller, more contemplative shrines in this cluster, preserving the intimate character of early medieval rural temple worship in the Cauvery delta region.

Thadalan — the one with enormous strides — is the name that evokes Vishnu's cosmic expansion in the Vamana-Trivikrama episode. At Keezhperumpallam, the local tradition holds that the lower village was where the earth first trembled when Vishnu lifted his foot for the first great stride. The earth goddess herself, Bhudevi, is said to have trembled with joy here at the contact with Vishnu's divine foot, and the spot was consecrated as a sacred site of that cosmic moment.