Sri Rajagopalaswamy temple Mannargudi

Among the majestic temples in Tamilnadu the Rajagopalaswamy temple is a prominent one Lord Krishna is a RAJA here , it has a massive Rajagopuram and the temple tank is called Haridra nadi so huge

HOW TO REACH:

Mannargudi is 30 kms south of Kumbakonam 35 kms east of Tanjore, 35 kms west of Tiruvarur and 50 kms west of Nagpattinam The temple is in the midst of the town  and easily found, Outside the temple is the pond called Haridra nadi . It has a temple in the middle

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The temple has a history from11 century built by King Rajaditha Chola 1018 to the Vijayanagara kings, Delhi sultanate, Tanjore Nayakas,Mahrattas,Britishers all developing the temple nd maintaining it

Pundarikaksha Perumal  is supposed to have given darshan to devotees  Saints Gopilllar and Gopralayar here as a cowherd

In the sanctum a small statue of Ala elai Krishna is handed over to us and bala mukundashtakam is recited this confers prosperity,children and success in life Please do not miss this seva                         (pic courtesy google)

The Rajagopuram was built by the nayak to se the Srirangam temple tower from Atop

There are two shrines one for Rajagopalaswamy and on the south side next to it is the sannidhi of Hemambhuja nayaki both are huge

The Krishna sannidhi is seen  above,The priest is standing next to a Anjaneya vigraham

The main sanctum houses Krishna flanked by Rukmini and sathyabhama in stone, The utsava murthy is Krishna as a cowherd surrounded by cows and calves all in bronze and about 3 feet tall 

Next door is the thayar sannidhi

between these two sannidhis is a shrine for Anjeneya which is managed by two brothers who are deaf mutes but their enthusiasm to help you is great. please stop by and give them some Dakshina and get Hanuman’s blessings

Thiruvahindi puram Devanathaswamy-Hemambhujavalli temple–A divya desam, temple for Lord Hayagriva

One of my long cherished wishes came true when I visited this temple last Wednesday with all my family members.

I had visited the Chettupunyam temple where the utsava vigraham of this temple is housed till today near Chennai  click the link to visit   my blog on that temple   http://drlsravi.blogspot.in/2011/04/yoga-hayagreevar-temple-at-chettypunyam.html

HOW TO REACH:

Thiruvahindi puram is near cuddalore in Tamil nadu. It is about 10 kms from cuddalore and is also about 20 kms from panrutti. regular buses and autos ply here in either direction, the temple houses the main  Devanathaswamy Sengamalavalli thayar as well as Oushadagiri where Sri Hayagreevar and Mahalakshmi are enshrined on top of the hill

LEGENDS AND STORIES :

.It is the only divyadesam with lord Vishnu as Hayagreevar the custodian of the Vedas and is very important for education related problems. It is also the Navagraha parihara ksethram for Rahu and Ketu

It is the only temple in South India for Lord Hayagreevar

Once when all the rishis came to have darshan of Vishnu he was missing from Thiruparkadal, vaikuntam and was traced to this place near Kumbakonam close to the sea and a hillock where he was in resplendent form witnessing the pujas of Sage Bhrugu and his daughter Mahalakshmi hence he married Mahalakshmi and stayed here

Once when Maha Vishnu  was very thirsty he asked Garuda to bring water from a pure pond in Patalam since Garuda was delayed  Adiseshan  dug a well with his tail and quenched Mahavishnu’s thirst. This well is in use till today for preparing prasadam. Devotees offer salt and jaggery here into the well as offerings . Meanwhile Garuda came back with the water and was hurt that he was late the compassionate lord asked garuda to use the water to start a river below the hill and devotees bathe here before coming . The river is called Garuda Nadhi today it is more famous as Gadilam/ Kedilam

The temple has unique sannidhis and vigrahas both garuda and Hanuman have the anjana mudra pose

Lord Narasimha here has Mahalakshmi on his right thigh unlike the other temples

Thirumangai alwar has sung about this temple in 11 hymns

Vedanta Desikar stayed here close to 40years and did penance .He also dug a well with his own hands on the Oushadagiri hill.This hill is part of the sanjeevini hill and houses many rare herbs. Desikar lived to be 102 years and all his works mention this temple both in Sanskrit as well as Tamil He had a great love for Sri Rama in this temple and Sri Hayagreevar was his ishta devatha and he made his own sculpture of this lord and prayed to him

^{way to the Hayagriva sannidhi}

The corridor leading to the Hayagriva sannidhi

The Devanathaswamy sannidhi from the top of the steps

Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevar Perumal Picture from the internet

The entrance to Devanatha swami temple shows the scheme in the sanctum also

inside there are separate sannidhis for Andal.Sri Ranganathan,  Sri Rama, SriLakshmi Narasimha, Anjeneya and Senkamalavalli thayar