Hindu temple in Tiruvarur
Sri Vidhya Rajagopalaswamy temple
is a
Vaishnava
shrine located in the town of
Mannargudi
,
Tamil Nadu
,
India
.
[1]
The presiding deity is
Rajagopalaswamy
, a form of
Krishna
. The temple is spread over an area of 9.3 ha (23 acres) and is an important
Vaishnava
shrines in India. The temple is called Dakshina Dvaraka (Southern
Dvaraka
) along with
Guruvayoor
by Hindus.
[2]
It is considered first among the
108
Abhimana Kshethram
of
Vaishnavate
tradition.
Originally this ancient temple was first constructed by
Kulothunga Chola I
at 10th century and Chola Kings
Rajaraja Chola III
,
Rajendra Chola III
and later expanded by
Thanjavur Nayaks
during the 16th century. The temple has three inscriptions from the period and also mention in the religious texts. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and seven of its nine bodies of water. The temple has a 59 m (192 ft)
rajagopuram
, the temple's gateway tower. Haridra Nadhi, the
temple tank
associated with the temple is outside the temple complex and is considered one of the largest temple tanks in India.
Pundarikakshan is believed to have appeared as
Krishna
to sages Gopillar and Gopralayar.
Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the chariot festival, celebrated during the
Tamil
month of
Panguni
(March?April), being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the
Hindu Religious and Endowment Board
of the
Government of Tamil Nadu
.
Architecture
[
edit
]
Image of shrines in the temple
The history of
Mannargudi
in centered around the Rajagoplaswamy temple. The temple has a large
gopuram
(gateway tower) facing east with a temple tank in the north eastern direction. The central shrine is located axial to the gateway and the flagpost and approached through a series of pillared halls. The image of the presiding deity is 156 inches tall and sported in a seated posture with his consorts
Satyabhama
and
Rukmini
on his sides. There is a big tank at the entrance of the shrine where rain water is collected. The temple complex has 16
gopurams
(tower gateways), 7
prakarams
(outer courtyard), 24 shrines, seven
mandapams
(halls) and nine sacred
theerthams
(temple tanks). The
utsava
(festival deity) is a
bronze
figure from the
Chola
period. It shows
keshabanda
type of coiffure and restrained ornamentation, atypical of the Chola bronzes of the 11th century.
[3]
The temple tank is called Haridra Nadhi, 353 m (1,158 ft) long and 255 m (837 ft) broad (9.3 ha (23 acres)), making it one of the largest
temple tanks
in India.
[2]
[4]
The shrine of Sengamalathayar (also called Hemabhujavalli) is located in the second precinct around the sanctum. The temple has a thousand pillared hall.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
The originally temple was first constructed by
Kulothunga Chola I
(1070-1125 CE) stone inscription found in the site.
[6]
The place Mannargudi is termed Sri Rajathi Raja Chathurvedhi Mangalam
[7]
and the town started to grow around the temple. Successive kings of the
Chola empire
,
Rajaraja Chola III
,
Rajendra Chola III
and kings of
Thanjavur Nayaks
,
Achyuta Deva Raya
[8]
expanded the temple. The temple contains inscriptions of the
Hoysala
kings and some
Vijayanagara
grants, and many records of the later Nayaks and
Marathas
.
[9]
The Thanjavur Nayaks made the temple as their dynastic and primary shrine and made significant additions.
[10]
The current temple structure, hall of 1000 pillars, main
gopuram
(temple gateway tower) and the big compound wall around the temple was built by the king
Vijayaraghava Nayak
(1532-1575 CE).
[6]
Raghunathabhyudayam
, a doctrine by
Nayaks
explains the donation of an armour studded with precious stones to the main deity by the king.
[8]
He erected the big tower in the temple so that he can view the
Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple
from the top of Mannargudi. The Nayaks were specially interested in music and it was promoted in both the temples. Instruments like
Mukhavina
,
Dande
,
Kombu
,
Chandravalaya
,
Bheri
and
Nadhasvaram
were commonly used in the temple service.
[11]
According to historian K.V. Soundararajan, the Rangantha temples in South India built during the 9th and 10th centuries have a systematic arrangement of subsidiary deities as seen in this temple along with the
Appakkudathaan Perumal Temple
at Koviladi,
Sowmya Narayana Perumal temple
at Thirukoshtiyur,
Veeraraghava Perumal Temple
at
Thiruvallur
and
Rangantha temple
at
Srirangapatna
.
[12]
Festival
[
edit
]
The temple priests perform the
puja
(rituals) every day, including festivals. Like other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the
Vaishnavaite
Brahmin
caste. The temple rituals are performed four times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:30 a.m., Uchikalam at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises three steps;
alangaram
(decoration),
neivethanam
(food offering) and
deepa aradanai
(waving of lamps) for the presiding deity. The worship involves religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals.
The major festivals celebrated in the temple are 18-day Panguni Brahmotsavam. During the second day, the enactment of the famous story of
Krishna
taking away the dress of bathing females, the females requesting the clothes back and Krishna singing the flute.
[2]
The festival deity is placed in the
pinnai
tree, the branches of which are hung with garments and ornaments.
[2]
The chariot festival is the most prominent festival of the temple and the surrounding villages. It is celebrated during the
Tamil
month of Panguni (March?April); devotees pull a chariot round the streets of Mannargudi. Verses from the
Nalayira Divya Prabandham
are recited by a group of temple priests and music made with
nagasvaram
(pipe instrument) and
tavil
(percussion instrument) is played.
Vaikunta Ekadashi
during December?January,
Navarathri
during September?October and butter pot breaking ceremony (locally called
uri adi
) are the other festivals celebrated in the temple.
[13]
Religious importance
[
edit
]
Rajagoplaswamy temple has not been glorified by
Alvars
, though it is classified as one of the Abimana Stalas, which are considered holy temples in Vaishnava tradition.
Thirumangai Alvar
is believed to have built the tall flag post outside the temple with the help of cotton bales. He also is believed to have sung praises about the presiding deity, but the songs were lost with time. The other Alvars who are believed to have visited the temple at various periods were seemingly lost in memory under the beauty of the presiding deity and were at loss of words.
[5]
Though Alwars have not glorified this temple, Sri Purandara dasaru, a Kannada Hari dasa, known as Pithamaha of Carnatic music had visited this place and glorified the God by composing a Kannada song " Kande Mannaru Krisha na" and "Mannaru Krishnanege Mangala". He is from Vijaya nagara empire. Even Sri Vijaya Dasaru also has composed song on this God.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Tourist guide to Tamil Nadu 2007 , p. 64.
- ^
a
b
c
d
South Indian Railway Co., Ltd 2004
, p. 176
- ^
T. 2002
, p. 119
- ^
M., Rajagopalan (1993).
15 Vaishnava Temples of Tamil Nadu
. Chennai, India: Govindaswamy Printers. pp. 76?88.
- ^
a
b
Anantharaman, Ambujam (2006).
Temples of South India
. East West Books (Madras). pp. 58?9.
ISBN
978-81-88661-42-8
.
- ^
a
b
S. 2009
, pp. 3-7
- ^
Imperial gazetteer of India: Provincial series
, Volume 18, p.159
- ^
a
b
V. 1995
, pp. 159
- ^
Imperial gazetteer of India: Provincial series
, Volume 18, p.137
- ^
? via
JSTOR
(subscription required)
- ^
T.K. 2010
, p. 50
- ^
K. V., Soundara Rajan (1967). "The Typology of the Ananta?ay? Icon".
Artibus Asiae
.
29
(1): 80.
JSTOR
3250291
.
- ^
"Sri Rajagopalaswamy Temple"
.
Dinamalar
. Retrieved
4 May
2013
.
References
[
edit
]
- V., Vriddhagirisan (1995).
Nayaks of Tanjore
. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
ISBN
81-206-0996-4
.
- T.K., Venkatasubramanian (2010).
Music as history in Tamilnadu
. Delhi: Premium Books.
ISBN
978-93-8060-706-1
.
- Tourist Guide to Tamil Nadu
. Sura Books. 2010. p. 64.
ISBN
978-81-7478-177-2
.
- S., Manickavasagam (2009).
Power of Passion
. AEG Publishing Group. pp. 3?4.
ISBN
978-1-60860-561-3
.
- T., Padmaja (2002).
Temples of Kr???a in South India: history, art, and traditions in Tamiln??u
. New Delhi: Shakti Malik.
ISBN
81-7017-398-1
.
- South Indian Railway Co., Ltd (2002).
Illustrated guide to the South Indian Railway (Incorporated in England
. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
ISBN
81-206-1889-0
.
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