Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam is one of the oldest towns in Tamilnadu and is famous for its Mahamaham festival. In the 7th Century it was the Capital of Chola Kings. Kumbakonam, the famous temple town of South India, is picturesquely located amidst the two rivers, Cauvery & Arasalar.
Kumbakonam is the temple city of South India situated in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. The city is famous for the Mahamaham festival that is celebrated once in 12 years in the Mahamaham tank located in the heart of it. The town is famous for brass vessels.
It is primarily a market town for the predominantly agriculture based villages surrounding it. Betel leaves are cultivated more in Kumbakonam since it is also called as Kumbakonam Vettrilai (in Tamil).
Kumbakonam is a busy, dusty commercial centre, nestled along the Cauvery River some 37 Kms northeast of Thanjavur. Dozens of temples are scattered around the town and this is a good base to visit the superb Chola temples nearby, or to head east to the coastal towns of the Cauvery Delta.
Brahma, the creator after the Prilaya Era, to continue with his work of creation wanted to have a Peetam. Lord Shiva asked him to make a pot made of “Amirhtam” and sand. The pot had a Peetam in it, with the vedas around it on four sides. A coconut was kept over the pot and garlands of Poonul (Sacred Thread ) and Tharpai were decorated and Brahma worshipped it.During a flood, the pot floated and moved towards south from Kailash.
Lord Shiva in the disguise of a hunter, broke the pot with an arrow and the amirtham spilled as “AMIRTHA THEERTHAM”. Mixing the amirtham of the Kumbha with sand Lord Shiva emerged as LINGAM. The sacred place where he gave darshan as “KUMBESWARAN” is now called as KUMBAKONAM.
Though rituals and archanas are done daily for the god, some special festivals are celebrated annually, which make the people gathered in large numbers and make their minds purified. Among the various festivals MAHAMAHAM that is celebrated once in twelve years is of very great importance. During the time of Mahamagam festival, it is also believed that taking bath in the holy stream of water from the famous rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathi, Sarayu, Godavari, Mahanadi, Narmatha, Pavoshnl and Cauvery, which are mixed together in Mahamagam tank, would get rid of sins according to Hindu religion.
he town has also been well – known for its prestigious educational institutions which have turned out eminent stalwarts in diverse spheres. The Government Arts College is proudly acclaimed as the “Cambridge of South India”. The famous Mathematician Ramanujam studied in this Institution.
Kumbakonam being the headquarters of Kumbakonam taluk has different names like Kudanthai, Kudamooku and Baskarashetram from time immemorial.
Kumbakonam Temples
Adhi Kumbeswara Swami temple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Adhi Kumbeswarar
Nageswaraswami temple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Nageswarar
Someswarar temple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Someswarar
Kasi visawanthar temple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : kasi visawanthar
Bana Pureeawara
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Bana Pureeawarar
Sarangapanitemple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Sarangapani
Chakrapani temple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Chakrapani
Ramasamy temple
– Location : In Kumbakonam Town ; Name of God : Lord Rama
Tanjore – Bragatheeswarar Temple – ( Periya Kovil)
Rajaraja Cholan, the Great Chola king built The Bragatheeswarar (Peruvudaiyar) Temple, also known as Big Temple. “In the twenty-fifth year of Rajaraja Cholan (A.D 1009-10) on the 257th day of the year the king handed over the copper pot for the finial at the top of the Vimana”. It weighed about 235 lbs., and was overlaid with gold plate of weight of 292.5 Kalanju or nearly 35 lbs.
Rajarajeswaram, as the temple was named by its founder, fills a large portion of the small fort (Sivaganga Fort), encircled by moat on the east and west, the Grand Anaicut Channel (Putharu) on the south and by the Sivaganga Garden on the north. The temple entrance has an imposing gateway on the east, on either sides of which stand two small shrines dedicated to Ganapathi and Murugan and further through there is another Gopuram 90 feet high. This way leads into an outer court. A second and magnificent Gopuram further leads into the main court in which the temple is built. The inner court is about 500 feet long and 250 feet broad, is well paved with brick and stone. The court is surrounded on all sides by a cloister. The western and northern wings have Sivalingams consecrated therein and there are paintings over these walls depicting sixty-four Nayanmars, sacred sport of Siva. The outer measurement of the temple is 793 feet by 397 feet.
Main Shrine
The main shrine of Sri Brihadisvara, the Great God – a Sanskrit rendering of the original tamil name Peruvudaiyar- stands at the western end of the main court. It comprises of five divisions – 1. Garbhagriha or the Sanctum Sactorum and the corridor around it
2. Ardhana-Mandapam
3. Maha-Mandapam with the open aisles
4. Stapana-Mandapam with the shrine of Sri Thyagarajar
5. Narthana-Mandapam for the temple paraphernalia and where the servant wait; and
6. Vadya-Mandapam and portico for the musicians.
Main shrine has three portals named Keralantakan, Rasarasan and Thiru-Anukkan. These portals are guarded by Dwarapalikas or the guardians of the gate. They are of huge proportions and of exquisite workmanship. There are several sets like these in the temple, of which seven of them are 18 feet by 8 feet. They are all monolith, and some are of very high artistic merit, especially at the entrance of Sri Subramanya temple.
The Sivalinga of Sri Brihadisvara is probably the grandest in existence. This image was originally called Adavallan (the one who is good in Dance). Another name was Dakshina-Meru Vitanken. Both the names occur in Thiruvisaipa as the names of the deity are as same as in Chidambaram Temple. This possibly indicates that the Saiva creed derived its support at the time mainly from Chidambaram. Rajaraja Cholan calls the image Rajarajeswaramudaiyar – The Lord of Rajarajeswaram. The tower over the shrine is named Dakshina-Meru after the abode of Lord Shiva at Kailasam, the Uttara-Meru.
Sri Thyagaraja, also called Vitankar, worshiped within a portion of Stapana-Manadapam, is the patron deity of Cholas. The legend goes that their mythical progenitor Chola Muchukuntan helped Indra against the asuras, for which help, he was presented with seven images of Thyagaraja, which he installed in the seven holy places of Thiruvarur, Thiru-nagai-karonam, Thiru-kkareyil, Thirukolili, Thirumaraikadu, Thirunallaru and Thiruvamur which are known as Sapta-Vitanka-Kshetras. Rajaraja Cholan was a devout worshiper of Sri Thyagaraja at Thiruvarur where he built this great temple; and, consecrated Sri Thyagaraja at Thanjavur also, as a mark of his own piety and in commemoration of the exploits of his celebrated ancestor.
The great Vimana is of the Dravidian style of architecture. It rises to a height of about 216 feet, a tower of fourteen storeys, finely decorated with pilasters, niches and images of gods of the Hindu pantheon. The basement of the structure which supports the tower is 96 feet square. The sikhara or cupolic dome is octagonal in shape and crowns the Vimana. The gilded Kalasa or finial, over dome is 12.5 feet high. It is believed that the sikhara and the stupi does not throw on the ground. The dome rests on a single block of granite, of 25.5 feet square. Two Nandis, each measuring 6.5 feet by 5.5 feet beautify each corner of the stone which is estimated to weigh about 80 tons, and is believed to have been conveyed to the top of the tower by means of a inclined plane commencing from Sarapallam (scaffold-hollow), four miles north-east of the city.
Sub Shrines:
Shrine of Sri Subramanya in the northwest corner, Shrine of Goddess Sri Brihannayagi, Sri Chandeeswara Shrine, Shrine of Ganapathy, Shrine of Nataraja in the north eastern corner, the colossal monolith figure on Nandhi, the sacred bull, in the central courtyard and the Shrine of Karuvurar.
The Shrine of Sri Subramanya:
The shrine consist of a tower 55 feet high, raced on a base 45 feet sq., covered with delicately carved figured, pillars & pilasters and carried on along a corridor 50 feet long, communicating with another mandapam 50 feet sq. to the east. Flights of steps lead upto either side of the shrine but the principal entrance is to the east. The walls of the pillared Manadapam are decorated with the portraits of the Mahratta rulers. This shrine has been pronounced to be “As exquisite a peace of decorative architecture as is to be found in the south of India” and “A perfect gem of carved stone work, the tooling of the stone in the most exquisitely delicate and elaborate patterns, remaining as clear and sharp as the day it left the sculptor’s hands”. This shrine is not referred to in the inscriptions, and cannot be contemporous to the main temple. Its correct place in the evolution of Dravidian temple architecture would be modern, giving it a date not earlier than 600 A.D. and is popularly believed to be of the Nayak period. Saint Arunagiriyar has three invocatory versus in price of the Sri Subramanya in his Thirupugzhal.
The Shrine of Goddess Brihanayaki:
This shrine is a later addition, constructed in the second year of a konerinmaikondan-probably a later Pandya of the 13th century. It is said the original shrine of the goddess, was located in the adjoining Sivaganga gardens and was later removed to main courtyard of the temple by the one of the Nayaks.
Dhwaja-Stambha:
In front of the main temple, stands a tall flag-staff (Dhwaja-Stambha), the covering of which is cast in copper. The lower portion is encased in a square piece and each of the four sides depict characteristic Saiva figures.
The Shrine of Ganapathy:
The shrine is in the south western corner of the court and is of the time of Sarfoji II. Seven images of Ganapathis are said to have been set up by Rajaraja Cholan, 2 in the dancing posture, 3 seated comfortably, and the remaining 2 standing.
The Shrine of Chandeeswara:
The shrine on the north central court is the only one put up contemporaneously with the main temple. Chandeeswara is one of the 63 Saiva saints and is considered to have been made the chief of Saiva devotees by Lord Shiva. He is assigned a shrine and a honoured place in every Shiva temple. He was looked upon as the manager of the temple. Any worshipper visiting a Shiva temple has to appear at the Chandeeswara shrine before leaving the temple premises and clap his hands evidently to satisfy the God that he is not taking away any temple property with him.
Sri Dakshinamurthy Shrine:
Sri Dakshinamurthy sanctum, with image as originally enshrined in one of the niches of the Vimanam, abutting the south wall of the main temple and approached by a steep flight of 21 stone steps is distinctly a later addition.
The Great Nandhi
The Nandi within is elaborately worked and the Nayak Mandapam is massive and striking. The Nandhi is 12 feet high, 19.5 feet long and 18.25 feet wide. The Nandhi is a monolith weighing about 25 tons and the stone is said to have come from a bed of Gneiss at the foot of Pachaimalai near Perambalur. Another version is that the stone was brought over from the bed of the River Narmada in the north. There is a tradition that the Nandhi is growing in size with the progress of time. It was feared it might become too large for the Mandapam erected over it and a nail was driven into the back of it, and since, its size has remained stationery. Two portrait statuesques on the front pillars of the Nandhi Mandapam are pointed out as those of Sevappanayakan (the first Nayak ruler) and of his son Achyutappa Nayak.
The Frescos
The Chola frescos painting discovered in 1931 by Mr.S.K.Govindasamy of Annamalai University within the circumambulatory corridor Aradhana Mandapam are of great interest. These are the first Chola specimen’s discovered. The passage of the corridor is dark and the enthusiast finds the walls on either side covered with two layers of paintings from floor to ceiling. Those of the upper layer are of the Nayak period, as certain labels in Telugu characters mentioned the names of Sevappa, Achyutappa and others. The Chola frescos lie underneath. An ardent spirit of saivism is expressed in the Chola frescos. They probably synchronised with the completion of the temple by Rajaraja Cholan. Saivism was at its height at that time and the Cholas were predominently of that faith.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (Srirangam)
The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, India is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Ranganatha, a reclining form of Lord Vishnu. It is the first and foremost among the 108 Divya Desams, the holy abodes of Lord Vishnu.
The temple occupies an area of 156 acres (6,31,000 m²) with a perimeter of 1,116m (10,710 feet) making it the largest temple in India.
Lord Brahma, the Lord of Creation in Hindu mythology was once in a state of deep meditation and in His supreme trance received the gift of the Lord Vishnu‘s idol, “Ranga Vimana”. He was told by the Supreme Lord that there would be seven other appearances of such idols on earth — Srirangam, Srimushnam, Venkatadri (Tirumala), Saligram (Muktinath), Naimisaranya, Totadri, Pushkara and Badrinath.
The idol was then passed on by Brahma to Viraja, Vaiswatha, Manu, Ishwaku and finally to Rama. Lord Rama, himself an avatar of Vishnu, worshipped the idol for a long time, and when he returned victoriously from Sri Lanka after destroying Ravana, he gave it to King Vibhishana as a token of appreciation for the latter’s support for Rama against his own brother, Ravana.
The story goes that when Ravana’s brother Vibhishana was returning to Lanka after the Pattabhishekam (coronation) of Lord Rama at Ayodhya, he was carrying an idol of Ranganatha given to him by Lord Rama. He was told not to place it on the ground, as it would be impossible to lift it then.
When Vibhishana reached Trichy, the banks of the Cauvery brimming with beautiful water attracted him. Unable to resist the draw of the river, Vibhishana looked around to see if there was anybody with whom he could leave the idol. At the time he saw a small boy and bade him to keep the idol. The boy replied that he would call out thrice, and if Vibhishana did not come back, he would place the idol on the ground. After Vibhishana went into the river, the small boy cried out to him thrice. The Lankan king did not respond. The boy then placed the idol on the ground and it grew to an enormous size. When Vibhishana returned, he tried to lift up the idol. When he could not, he shouted at the boy who started running away. He ran all the way up the hillock, where Vibhishana finally caught up with him and knocked him on the head. The boy then revealed himself to Vibhishana as Lord Vinayaka.
The location where the Ranganathan idol was placed was later covered by an overgrowth of deep forests, due to disuse. After a very long time, a Chola king, chasing a parrot, accidentally found the idol. He then established the Ranganathaswamy temple as one of the largest temple complexes in the world.
Uchi Pillayar temple
Rock Fort temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha is known as Uchi Pillayar Kovil. One gets to see the Thayumanaswamy temple, dedicated to lord Shiva and Mattuvarkuzhal Ammai temple on the way to the top. The shrine was built by the great Pallava king Mahendravarman in the ninth century A.D. The shrine is at a height of 273 feet and the number of steps is 417. . Sri Rangam temple can be clearly seen from the top.
What strikes one is the extremely narrow entrance to the sanctum sanctorum. Pillayar is decked in sandal paste and his eyes are so penetrating. There is a “pit” on the top of his forehead, believed to have been created when Vibhishana rapped him on the head in anger.
Visit to Trichi is incomplete without visiting Rockfort in Tiruchirappalli.
Navagragha Temples
Surya (The Sun) – Suriyanar Koil
3 Kms. from Aduthurai which is on the Kumbakonam- Mayiladuthurai Road
Chandra ( The Moon) – Thingaloor
1.5 Kms. from Thirupayhanam which is on the Kumbakonam-Thiruvayyaru Road
Angaraka ( Sewai ) The MarsVaitheeswarankoil
4 Kms. from Mayiladuthurai on the Chidambaram Road
Budan ( The mercury) – Trivenkadu
10 Kms. SouthEast of Sirkali
Guru ( The Vyazhan) (Jupiter) – Alangudi
About 15 Kms. from Kumbakonam on the way to NeedaMangalam
Sukran (Velli) (The Venus) – Kanjanoor
An interior village on the Mayiladuthurai – Kathiramangalam Road
Sani ( The Saturn) – Thirunallar
On the way to Peralam- Karaikkal. 5 Kms from karaikkal
Sani ( The Saturn) – Thirunallar
On the way to Peralam- Karaikkal. 5 Kms from karaikkal
Raghu – Thirunageswaram
About 7 Kms from Kumbakonam-Karaikkal Road
Kethu – Keezhaperumpallam
Near PoomPuharMayiladuthurai- Poompuhar road
Useful Links
http://www.kumbakonam.com/travel/navagraghatemple.htm
http://www.marskarthik.com/navagraha.html
http://www.navagrahatour.com/
http://www.templepages.com/maps.html
http://www.tanjore.net/travel/bragatheeswarartemplelayout.htm
http://www.tanjore.net/travel/bragatheeswarartemple.htm
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