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Vishnu devotee, king Sumathirajan by name had a desire to have the darshan of Lord as the Sarathy of Arjuna in the Kurukshetra battlefield.   He prayed to God for the darshan which Lord obliged as controlling and managing the rath of Partha-Arjuna.  

The king begged the Lord to stay in the place in the same form.  Perumal appears here only with His conch and not the discus.  Lord was hit by the arrows shot by Bhishma aimed at Arjuna and thus sustained injuries.  The scars are visible even now. 

Parthasarathi is the Utsavar moorthy.  As He grew prominent among the devotees, the temple came to be known as Parthasarathy temple.

Presiding deity is 9 feet tall. This is the only Vishnu temple where Perumal appears with a moustache of a Sarathi – conducting Arjuna’s Rath in the Kurukshetra battle field. He also appears with His family. 

In days of yore, Sage Brugu performed penance here to have Lord as his son-in-law.  He found a female child in the Alli flower in the Pushkarini here.  He took the child, named Her Vedavalli.

When she attained the marriageable age, Lord Ranganatha came to this place and married Her.  Vedavalli Thayar blesses the devotees from Her own separate shrine. 

As Venkatakrishna in the sanctum, He appears with Mother Rukmini nearby, Mother Mahalakshmi in chest, brother Balarama at His right and Satyagi at the left, son Padyumnan and grandson Aniruddha – with His whole family.

 Lord Rama grants darshan from a separate shrine with Mother Sita, Lakshmana, Bharatha, Satrugna and Sri Anjaneya.

Discus is the main weapon of Lord Vishnu.  He is without that weapon here.  He vowed that He would support the Pandavas in the war but would not hold any weapon.

 As Parthasarathy, he appears without discus.  He holds only the conch to announce the war.  Also, He is with two hands only as Krishna in human form.

A heroic appearance demands a moustache for a majestic look.  Presiding deity Venkatakrishna-Parthasarathy appears with this Alankar.  He is also praised as Meesai Perumal. 

Against the tradition of one deity in presiding status, there are five in this temple with this importance.  Lord Venkatakrishna is in the main sanctum sanctorum.  Lord Ranganatha and Lord Sri Rama are in the front Mandap.  Lords Gajendravaradha and Yoga Narasimha are in the prakara shrines.  Hence, the temple is praised as Panchamurthi Sthala. 

 In the Ranganatha shrine, Lord Varaha is near the head and Lord Narasimha at the feet.  

Yoga Narasimha in the separate shrine is the first deity of the temple.  Day’s first puja is dedicated to Him. 

Sweet Pudding – Sarkarai Pongal is famous in Parthasarathy temple.   For every 2 kilogram rice, they add 400 gm cashew nuts and 700 gm ghee in the preparation.

The Ghee component in the nivedhana is more to cure the wounds on the body of the Lord it is said.  No spices are used in the nivedhanas to Lord.

 Lord is also known as Sriman Natha as addressed by Mother when He came to wed Her. There are flag posts-Kodimarams and entrances for Venkatakrishna facing east and Yoga Narasimha facing west.

The temple was originally built by the Pallavas in the 8th century by king Narasimhavarman I.

Subsequently the temple was expanded by Cholas and later by the Vijayanagara kings in the 15th century.

This temple is 61st Divya Desam in 108 Vaishnava Divya Desams