Adi Thiruvarangam Temple near Thirukoilur

I had heard about this temple more ancient than Srirangam and housing an 18 feet reclining Perumal and could visit it last week driving back from trichy

HOW TO REACH:

The temple is on the banks of the now dry Pennai river around  20kms from Tirukoilur . It is easily approached from south via kallakurichi  /Salem on the ulundurpet Salem highway also

STORIES AND LEGENDS:

It is in existence from last 4 yugas as per the priest.

Once an asura Somukhan hid the Vedas.Mahavishnu retrieved the Vedas and was resting here and teaching Brahma the same .As a result of prayers of the devas he decided to stay here and the divine architect Vishwakama created the idol from herbs and sand

king Srutikirthi prayed here and was blessed with children

The moon prayed here and regained his lost lustre

though it is an ancient temple it is not a Divya desam

as you enter the main gopuram you can see an ancient granary used to store food grains in the past

Entrance into the main shrine

View from the dwajasthambam there is a Krishna seen in a small enclosure at the top

on the right is the way to the main sanctum where there is an 18 foot Perumal reclining on Sridevi with Brahma in the middle and Bhoodevi at his feet with Garuda kneeling at his head end

On the left is

the way to the Thayar  Ranganayaki shrine

The Goddess is standing about 3 feet high.  Behind the main sanctum is a shrine for Anjeneya, a statue of Lord Rama with a bow and an Anjeneya shrine. There is also a shrine for Vedanta Desikar

The temple is open from 6:30 AM to 8 PM all days the priest claims only those who have been allowed by the Lord  will be able to visit the temple.

Once outside we found clean well maintained toilets.The temple is clean well maintained with uniformed staff and is a place worth visiting

View of the rest rooms outside