Sarangapani Temple 1 Sarangapani Temple Sarangapani Temple Location within Tamil Nadu Coordinates: 10°57′31.18″N 79°22′54.94″E [1] Location Country: India State: Tamil Nadu District: Thanjavur Location: Kumbakonam Temple Details Primary Deity: Sarangapani (Vishnu) Consort: Komalavalli Thayar (Lakshmi) Festival Deity: Aravamuthar Temple Tank: Potramarai Kulam Poets: Aandaal - 1 Periyalvar - 3 Bhoothathalvar- 2 Thirumalisai Alvar - 7 Peialvar - 2 Nammalvar - 11 Thirumangai Alvar - 25 Architecture and culture Architectural styles: Dravidian architecture Sarangapani Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, located in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham by the 12 poet saints, or
Sarangapani Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, located in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham by the 12 poet saints, or
Alwars. This temple is along Kaveri and is one of the Pancharanga Kshetrams.The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity with contributions at different times from Medieval Cholas,Vijayanagar Empire and Madurai Nayaks. The temple is enshrined within a huge granite wall and the complexcontains all the shrines and the water bodies of the temple. The rajagopuram (the main gateway) has eleven tiers andhas a height of 173 ft (53 m). The Potramarai tank, the temple tank, is located opposite to the western entrance of thetemple.Sarangapani is believed to have appeared for sage Hemarishi. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and twelve yearly festivals on its calendar. The temple chariot festival is the most prominentfestival of the temple, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March–April). The twin temple chariots arethe third largest in Tamil Nadu, each weighing 300 t (660,000 lb).
LegendAs per Hindu legend, the Vaishnava deity, Sarangapani, an incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, appeared for a sageHema Rishi, who performed penance in the bank of Potramarai tank.[2] The penance was performed to obtainLakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, as his daughter. Vishnu was pleased by the penance and he wished the sage to getLakshmi as his daughter. Lakshmi emerged from the Potramarai tank among thousand lotuses and was thus namedKomalavalli (the one who emerged from lotus). Vishnu descended to earth as Aravamudhan in a chariot drawn byhorses and elephants from his abode Vaikuntam. He stayed in the nearby Someswaran Temple to woo Lakshmi tomarry him and the couple eventually got married. The name Sarangapani derives from the Tamil word Sarangammeaning bow and pani meaning hand - the one holding bow in his hand is Sarangapani.
The temple
Sculpture depicting an elephant in the chariot shapedsanctum
Sarangapani is the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam and hasthe tallest temple tower in the town. The temple is enshrinedwithin a huge wall and the complex enshrines all the water bodiesof the temple except the Potramarai tank. The rajagopuram (themain gateway) has eleven tiers and has a height of 173 ft (53 m).There are five other smaller gopurams in the temple. Therajagopuram has figures depicting various religious stories. Thetemple faces east and the Potramarai tank is located outside thewestern entrance. The central shrine of the temple is in the form ofa chariot drawn by horses and elephants, with openings on eitherside, showing the descent of Sarangapani from heaven in thechariot. There is a sculptural representation of the sage Hemarishiin the western part of the temple.[3] The central shrine of the
temple houses the image of Sarangapani in pallikonda posture, with his head resting on his right hand. The are otherimages of sage Hemarishi, Lakshmi and festival images enshrined within the sanctum. There are two steppedentrances to the sanctum named as Utharayana Vaasal and Dhakshanayana Vaasal, each open for a six monthperiod. From the 15th of January to 15th of June, Utharayanya Vaasal is opened while Dhakshanaya Vaasal isopened during the other half of the year. The Potramarai tank has a central hall called Hemarishi Mandapam. Thetemple has two processional chariots carved out of wood stationed outside the rajagopuram.
In Bharatanatyam, a South Indian dance form, 108 karanas form the basic movements. Some of these karanas aresculpted around the walls of the temple. Similar sculptures are found in the Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur andNataraja Temple in Chidambaram.
Sarangapani temple is considered third in the line of Srirangamand Tirupathi temples. The temple is revered in Nalayira DivyaPrabandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Aandaal inone, Periyalvar in three, Bhoothathalvar in two, ThirumalisaiAlvar in seven, Peialvar in two, Nammalvar in eleven andThirumangai Alvar in 25 versesl. The temple is classified as adivyadesam, the 108 Vishnu temples that are reverred in theVaishnava canon. As per a Hindu legend, Nathamuni, whocompiled Divya Prabandham by the twelve azhwars, found onlythe first ten verses sung on Aravamudhan. Nammazhwar recitedthe remaining 3990 verses unconsciously while he was in deep meditation and Nathamuni compiled all of them.[4]
Pancharanga Kshetrams (also called Pancharangams, meaning the "five Rangams or Ranganathas") is a group offive sacred Hindu temples, dedicated to Ranganatha, a form of the god Vishnu, on the banks of the Kaveri River.The five Pancharanga Kshetrams in the order of their successive locations, on the banks of the Kaveri River are: TheSrirangapatnam called the Adi Ranga, the first temple on the banks of the Kaveri River from the upstream side; theSrirangam (island in Tiruchirappalli) in Tamil Nadu known as Adya Ranga (the last temple), Appalarangam orKoviladi at Tiurppernagar in Tamil Nadu, Parimala Ranganatha Perumal Temple or Mayuram at Indalur,Mayiladuthurai and Vatarangam at Sirkazhi. The Sarangapani temple at Kumbakonam is mentioned in place ofVatarangam in some references.
Worship and festivalsThe temple follows Pancharatra Agama and Vadakalai tradition. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals)during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavitecommunity, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Tiruvanandal at 8:00 a.m., Kalasanthi at 9:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:30 p.m., Ntiyanusandhanam at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:30 p.m. andArdha Jamam at 9:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering)and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Sarangapani and Thayar. The food offering during the six times arecurd rice, Ven pongal, spiced rice, dosa, Ven pongal and sugar pongal respectively. The worship is held amidst musicwith nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacredtext) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, fortnightly andmonthly rituals.Akshaya Tritiyai - 12 Garuda Sevai Chaitra Brahma Utsavam celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (April- May), Vasantotsavam during Vaikasi (May - June), Pavitrotsavam - Ekadasi Jyeshotsavam during Adi(July -August), Sri Jayanthi - Uriyadi Utsavam during Avani (August - September), Navaratri Utsavam - Saraswathi Puja -Vijayadasami during Purattasi (September - October), Deepavali - Shraddha of Sri Lakshmi Narayanaswami duringAippasi (October - November), Deepa Utsavam - Unjal Utsavam during Karthigai (November - December), PakalPattu - Ira Pattu Pongal Sankaramana Utsavam during Margazhi (December - January), Kanu Utsavam - Amavasya- Ratasaptami during Thai (January - February), Masi Magaham - Float Festival during Masi (February - March)and Brahmmotsavam - Tirukkalyanotsavam during Panguni (March - April) are the festivals celebrated in thetemple.The twin temple chariots weigh 300 t (660,000 lb) each and has been renovated in 2007. The chariots were not drawn for some years during the preceding period. The chariots are next only in size to the ones in Thygaraja temple in Thiruvarur and Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur. The chariots are pulled by hundreds of devotees across the streets around the temple twice a year, once during the Brahma Utsavam during April-May and other during Ratasaptami in
January-February. The festival idols of Sarangapani and Kamalvalli are brought to the thermutti (chariot station)after elaborate religious rituals.As per a temple legend, once a staunch Brahmin devotee of Aravamudhan spent most of his life to the service of thedeity. At the end of his life, he felt his loneliness and prayed for his karma to be performed. Aravamudhan descendedhimself to perform the last rites on a Deepavali day. The ritual is performed annually by the priests and is one of itskind where death rituals are performed in the precincts of a Vishnu temple.
