Temples in Trichy
SRIRANGAM
Sri Ranganathaswami Temple
Srirangam is the foremost of the eight self-manifested shrines of Lord Vishnu (Swayam Vyakta Ksetras). It is also considered the most important of the 108 main Vishnu temples (Divya Desams). This temple is a highly recommended place to visit. It was sung about by all the Alwars (the Tamil Vaishnava saints), except Madhurakavi. This temple is also known as Tiruvarangattirupathi, Periya Koil, Bhooloka Vaikuntham, and Bhogamandapa.
Srirangam is located 2 km north of Tiruchirappalli.
Sri Ramanujacarya made the Srirangam Temple his headquarters to preach Visistadvaita philosophy. His samadhi is within the premises of the Srirangam Temple. Sri Caitanya, Sri Vallabhacarya, and the Dalai Lama visited this temple. Many celebrated kings like Kulasekhara and Alabandaru resided in the temple of Srirangam. Sri Yamunacarya, Sri Ramanuja, and Sudarsanacarya supervised this temple.
The Srirangam Temple is the largest temple in India. It is on a 600 acre island surrounded by the rivers Kaveri and Kolladam (Coleroon). After Tirupati, this is the second most visited Vaishnava temple in South India.
The temple complex covers 2 1/2 sq km or 155 1/2 acres. It is known as "Koil" or "the temple". Over the roof is the Sriranga vimana, which is gold-plated. The temple has a great collection of jewelry.
Each morning a cow with her head facing away from Lord Ranganatha and an elephant facing her are brought before the altar. Thus when the Deity's doors are opened the first thing that Lord Ranganatha sees is the rear end of a cow and the head of an elephant, which are both considered very auspicious.
The puja of the temple is done according to the regulations of the Ramanujasampradaya. It is a traditional belief that Adi Sankara installed the Janakarsana Yatra at Srirangam and Dhanakarsana Yatra at Tirupati to attract pilgrims.
On a normal day you may have to wait about a half hour to see Lord Ranganatha, but it is worth waiting a life time.
There are many other shrines in the temple. There are shines for Sri Rama, Narasimha, Chakrathalwar, Garuda, etc. There are also shrines dedicated to Vedanta Desika and all the Alwars.
The major festival in this temple is on Vaikuntha Ekadasi in December. At that time Lord Ranganatha is brought into the "Thousand Pillar Hall" under a golden dome.
Sixth Enclosure
The Jagannatha Temple that marks the spot where Sri Caitanya stayed while in Srirangam is inside the northwest part of the sixth enclosure. Also within the sixth wall are the house of the Brahmins who serve in the temple. Within this enclosure are the temple's processional carts.
In the southeast corner of the sixth enclosure there is a temple dedicated to Manavala Mamunigal, the daughter of the Sultan of Delhi, who became very devoted to Sri Ranganatha. There is a painting of the Princess handing on the wall of the shrine.
The Muslim Sultan, after attacking the Srirangam temple, carried away the processional Deity of Sri Ranganatha, Sri Manavala Perumal. The daughter of the Sultan considered the Deity so beautiful that she fell in love with Him. She kept the Deity in her bedroom. When the priests of the Srirangam temple pleaded with the Sultan to return the Deity, his daughter objected. Then while she was sleeping, the Sultan returned the Deity to the priest. When she woke and found the Deity missing, she became so disturbed that she immediately left for Srirangam to see the Deity.
Fifth Enclosure (Ahalankan Thiruveedhi)
Before you enter the fifth enclosure (some say fourth enclosure) you have to remove your shoes. The Rangavilas Mandapa hall is directly in front of the southern gate. Next to this (to your left as you enter the southern gate) is the small, intricately carved Venugopala Temple. Inside the porch of the Venugopala Temple there are paintings which show Krishna having pastimes with the gopis (cowherd-girls). Near this temple there are stairs that lead up to the roof of a nearby building. From there you can get a good view of the gopurams and temple area. You have to get a ticket to go on the roof at the information booth in front of the Venugopal temple. From a platform on the roof, you can get some really nice photos of the gold-plated Sriranga vimana and the gopurams.
To the left (west) of the south gate is the Vasantha Mandapa hall and the Chakrathalwar Temple which is dedicated to the Sudarsana Cakra of Lord Vishnu. To the left of the Venugopala Krishna Temple is a shrine dedicated to Andal.
Directly to the right of the south entrance are shrines dedicated to Vitthala Krishna, Koorathalwar, Thondaradippadi Alwar and Tiruppan Alwar.
To get to the Sri Ranga Nachiyar Temple from the inner enclosure (inner sanctum), you have to retrace your steps to the 3rd courtyard, because the Paramapada Vasal Gopuram (gate of salvation) on the north side of the third enclosure is always closed except during the last 10 days of the 20 days Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival. At this time the Lord passes out this opened gate. So you have to proceed out the south gate of the third enclosure until you reach the Garuda Hall, and they you can proceed around the temple (north). You then exit out the north gate and reach the Sri Ranga Nachiyar Lakshmi Temple, on your left. Inside this temple there is the sacred Bilwa tree along the north wall. When Malika Kafur invaded the temple, the original Lakshmi Deity in this temple was buried under the Bilwa tree, and after 80 years the Deity was found and restored to its original place.
Along the northeast wall near the Sri Ranga Nachiyar Temple is a shrine dedicated to Vedanta Desika, a famous Tamil Nadu Vaishnava devotee. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha by the entrance of the Sri Ranga Nachiyar Temple.
Jagannatha Mutt & Sri Caitanya's Footprints
Jagannatha Mutt is a beautiful little temple, that marks the place where Lord Caitanya spent the four months of the rainy season in 1510. The house of Vyenkata Bhatta used to be at this place. The temple has many paintings depicting Lord Caitanya's pastimes at Srirangam. In the center hall of the temple there is a diorama of Lord Caitanya and a Deity of Lord Jagannatha. The family descendants of Vyenkata Bhatta still live in Srirangam.
This temple is a ten-minute walk around the temple from the main entrance of the Srirangam Temple, within the sixth enclosure of the temple. It is in the northwest corner of the sixth enclosure.
There is a small temple that contains the footprints of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about 100 metres from the south gopuram of the Srirangam Temple. The temple has an inscription that says Sri Caitanya stayed in Srirangam for four months in 1510.
ISKCON Temple
It is a small temple with a few devotees. There are no guest facilities, but the devotees are helpful. The address is 6-A EVS Road, Renganagar, Srirangam. It is near the Srirangam bus stand and the main entrance gate to the temple, on the same road as where most of the dharamsalas are located.
Sri Jambukeswara Temple (Thiruvaanaikkaval)
This temple is an important Siva temple which is architecturally interesting. It has elaborate carvings. In this temple is the Appu-linga (water), one of the five elements Siva-lingas. The base of the Appu-linga is submerged in water coming from a spring the inner sanctum. The linga is under a holy Jambu tree. Jambu is a guava tree, and iswara means "the Lord".
It is said that Lord Rama came here after killing Ravana and Kumbhakarna. It is also said that an elephant once worshiped this linga. Hence the Tamil name Thiruvaanaikkaval (aanai in Tamil means elephant). The goddess in the temple is Akhilandeswari.
This temple has seven gopurams and five surrounding walls. The fourth wall is 35 feet high, 6 feet thick, and about 2500 by 1500 feet long. Inside this wall is a mandapa (hall) with 800 pillars and a tank fed by a perpetual spring. There are many deities and beautiful sculptures in this impressive temple.
It is located two km east of Srirangam temple, on the same island in the middle of the Kaveri. The No 1 bus passes it on the way to the Srirangam Temple. Non-Hindus cannot enter the inner sanctum.
Rock Fort Temple
It is on a huge 83 metre (273 feet) high rock, said to be one of the oldest rocks in the world, over 3.8 billion years old. There is not much of the fort left. The thousand pillars hall, which you can see as you walk up the stairs, was mainly destroyed by an explosion in 1772. From the top of the hill you have a great view of the city and the Kaveri River.
You can also see the Srirangam Temple on the other side of the river. There is a hall with a bell weighing about 2 1/2 tons, which has a diameter of 4 feet at the base.
It is said that this rock is one of three pieces blown off Mount Meru by Vayu. One time Vayu challenged Adi Sesa to a show of strength. So Adi Sesa coiled around Mount Meru, and Vayu tried to loosen His grip. Because of their fight, the whole world had unprecedented hurricanes and storms. In spite of this, the wind-god could not loosen the grip of Adi Sesa. Lord Siva then asked Adi Sesa to loosen His grip, which he did. It is said that at this time Mount Meru broke into three pieces. One chip is said to have fallen at the site of the Rock Fort, one at Kalahasti, and another at Sri Lanka.
You walk up about 430 steps cut into a tunnel through the rock to get to the Ganesh temple (known as Ucchipillayar Koli in Tamil) at the top of the hill. It is not a hard climb. There are also some cave temples with beautiful sculptures of the pallava era (7th century). Halfway up, there is the Sri Rhayumana Swami Temple dedicated to Lord Siva. The linga is a projection of the rock. Non-Hindus cannot enter the inner sanctum of this temple.
There is small fee to go to the top of the hill.
Alagia Manavalan Temple
This is one of the Divya Desam Vishnu temples. It is the birthplace of Tiruppaana Alwar. It is about 2 km northwest of Trichy Fort Railway Station.
Area Divya Desam Temple
All the following temples are Divya Desam Vishnu temples and can be visited on the same trip by taxi. There is the Tiruvadivlaia Nambi Temple in Tiruanbil, which is 8 km east of the Lalgudi railway station. Lalgudi is 15 km northeast of Srirangam on the train line to Madras.
The Uttamar Koil Temple is at Karambanoor, which is 5 km north of Srirangam. The Vishnu Deity is called Purushottaman, and the goddess is Purvadevi. The Trinity - Lord Vishnu, Siva, and Brahma- are all worshiped in this temple. There are also several other Deities worshiped in this temple. It is said that Kadamba Maharishi, Markandeya, and Garuda performed penance here.
The Pundareekaksha Temple is located in Tiruvellarai, which is 16 km north of Srirangam, passing Uttamar Koil on the way. The goddess's name is Pangayacchelvi. It is on the bus route between Trichy and Salem or Trichy and Turaiyur.
The Valvilli Raman Temple is at Pullam Poothankudi, which is 4 km from Swamimalai railway station, on the main line between Kumbakonam and Swaminalai. Rama holds a bow. The utsava-murti (Small Deity) of Lord Rama has four arms, which is not usually seen. This is said to be the place where Jatayu received liberation.
The Appakudathan Temple is located in Tiruppernagar (Tiirupper), 24 km northeast of Srirangam. The goddess is named Indira Devi. Both Namm Alwar and Tirumangai Alwar said that whoever worships the Deity here would attain liberation. They said Krishna would attract the mind of anyone who worships here and He would always reside in their heart.
The Andalakkumaiyan Vishnu Temple is at Aadanoor, 3 km from Swamimalai railway station. The goddess's name is Ranganayakiyar. There is a deity of Tirumangai Alwar in the inner sanctum.
|
