In Angkor Wat, Vyasa dictating the Mahabharata to Ganesha.
There is a temple in Kanchipuram, the Vaikuntha Perumal Temple, which is not too far from the Kamakshi Temple in the center of town.
Perumal is one of the thousands of names of Lord Vishnu, and Vaikuntha is the name of Vishnu’s heaven.
The ancient Hindu text, Srimad Bhagavatam, contains a description of Vaikuntha. This book, filled with stories of Lord Krishna, was compiled by the sage, Vyasa, who also complied all the other major holy books of India, which he was only able to accomplish by living a very long time.
The humming of the bees among the trees
In the woodlands of Vaikuntha, the trees are always in bloom with flowers of heavenly scent. Through the forest, the worshippers of Vishnu travel aloft in airships (airships were quite common in ancient India).
There, whenever the bees make their sound, to sing to the glory of Vishnu, their music is so enchanting that all the birds; the pigeons, the swans, the parrots, and all other winged creatures, fall silent so they can appreciate the humming of the bees.
The leaves of the Tulsi tree.
The woods are filled with a great variety of graceful trees – none more sacred than the Tulasi tree, the tree of the Goddess, also called the Tulsi, or Holy Basil Tree (there are many kinds of basil, and this one is different from the herb that is commonly called basil in the U.S.). For thousands of years, the Tulasi plant has been used in ayurvedic medicine, the ancient traditional medicine of India, which is very efficacious, has no side effects and, importantly, has never used animal testing.
In India, really, all trees are sacred, and every temple has its own sacred tree.
To arrive in Vaikuntha, as to get to heaven in any spiritual tradition, one does not look among the stars of the sky, or pour over maps of the cosmos; Vaikuntha is real, to be sure, but it is not a material place. It is not a geographical location, so the question “where?” does not apply.
Ultimately Vaikuntha is a state which is inconceivable and incomprehensible, so even the best attempts to describe it fall short and are only metaphors.
Is there more than one heaven?
There is also a heaven called Kailasha for the followers of Shiva, but this doesn’t mean that there are two heavens, or that one’s friends, relatives, or pets, could, mistakenly, end up in a different one.
That’s really not a problem. Also, until one attains moksha, or deliverance, there is no freedom from samsara, the endlessly turning wheel of life and death, into which one is destined to be reborn. Even if one is fortunate enough to reach Vaikuntha after death, instead of being shipped straight back to earth; it is possible that, after having spent some time, or even nearly a whole vast epoch of time, in heaven, one may still find oneself right back on the earthly plane, leading another life, until the moment when one has at last attained final freedom.
Lord Vishnu and Sri Laxmi, riding on Garuda.
Perumal (or Thirumal), as one of the names of Vishnu, refers to the one whose lotus feet destroy all sin and bestow the blessings of moksha or deliverance.
A Wikipedia article about Thirumal states that the Tamil Sangam literature describes Thirumal as the “dark one,” the Supreme God, who creates, preserves, and ultimately destroys the cosmos.
The ancient Sangam period
The Sangam period in southern India ran from the third century BC to the fourth century AD, comprising three Sangam periods. The first two were very early and are considered legendary; however perhaps that is a meaningless distinction. They may be every bit as real as the third one, which is thought to be historical.
Later on, Tamil poets known as the alwars praised Vishnu, or Perumal, in their soaring poetry.
According to Wikipedia, the old Tamil book “Tolkappiyam”, which is one of the earliest books of Tamil grammar, mentions Kottravai (the Mother Goddess), Sevvael (Murugan), Thirumaal (who is Vishnu), Vendhan (Indra), and Varunan (God of the Oceans).
Who built the Vaikuntha Perumal Temple?
The Pallava King, Nandivarman II built the Vaikuntha Perumal Temple in the eighth century, constructing it on three levels, or three stories. The temple is unusual in that the walls are covered by a vast number of sculpted murals in bas relief. The sculpture panels tell the story of events leading up to his reign.
An elephant sculpture at Mahabalipuram.
Nandivarman II became king of the Pallava Empire, in southern India, at the age of fourteen. The throne had become vacant and representatives of the people traveled all the way to Cambodia (which they called the “land of Kambuja”) to look up one of the royal descendants of the Pallava line. When asked, three of the royal sons declined to travel back to India to be crowned king, but the fourth and youngest, Nandivarman II, accepted. He was to be a remarkable king, in many ways, and he built a number of other temples, as well as Vaikuntha Perumal.
On the three levels within the temple, Vishnu is shown in various poses; standing, seated and lying down. The temples’ lion pillars were the predecessors of the thousand pillared halls of some later Tamil Nadu temples.
The Vaikuntha Perumal Temple is a living temple, where people still go to worship.
Perhaps it is best seen as a gateway to the real Vaikuntha, the sacred home, and place of peace, of Lord Vishnu.
Top photo: Forest and Kim Starr / Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.” /Ocimum tenuiflorum or the leaves of the Holy Tulsi plant. This one is in Hawaii.
Second photo: Janice janice.chc@msa.hinet.net / Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.” / At Angkor Wat, Vyasa narrating the Mahabharata to Ganesha.
Third photo: Unknown artist from Bundi, Rajasthan, India. / Wikimedia Commons / “This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.” / Narayana (Vishnu) riding on Garuda with Shri Lakshmi
Fourth photo: Sharon St Joan / An elephant sculpture at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu; this temple complex was built in the seventh century by the Pallava King Narasimhavarman I.
