Hara Saabha Vimocchana Perumal Temple
| Hara Saabha Vimocchana Perumal Temple | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Thanjavur |
| Deity | |
| Features |
|
| Location | |
| Location | Tamilnadu, India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location in Tamil Nadu | |
| Geographic coordinates | 10°51′36″N79°6′30″E/ 10.86000°N 79.10833°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Dravidian architecture |
Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal Templein Thirukandiyur, a village in the outskirts ofThiruvayaruin the South Indian state ofTamil Nadu,is dedicated to the Hindu godVishnu.Constructed in theDravidian style of architecture,the temple is glorified in theNalayira Divya Prabandham,the early medievalTamilcanon of theAlvarsaints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108Divya Desamdedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal and his consortLakshmias Kamalavalli Nachiyar.
The temple is believed to have been built by theMedieval Cholasof the late 8th century CE, with later contributions fromVijayanagara kingsandMadurai Nayaks.A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and its bodies of water. The temple has a 5-tieredrajagopuram,the temple's gateway tower.
Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal is believed to have appeared to Hindu godsBrahmaandShiva,and KingMahabali.It is one of the few temples where theTrimurti- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are worshipped in the same premises. Six daily rituals and four yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Panguni Brahmostavam, celebrated during theTamilmonth ofPanguni(April–May), is the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.
Legend
[edit]
As per the account inBrahmanda Purana,Brahma,the Hindu god of creation andShiva,the Hindu god of destruction, had originally five heads.Parvati,the wife of Shiva, once got confused and worshipped Brahma, instead of her husband. Shiva got enraged and cut off one of Brahma's heads; the head stuck to Shiva's hand due to Brahma's curse. To get rid off the sin, Shiva worshipped the god Vishnu atThirukarambanurasBhikshatana,where a part of his sin was relieved. Shiva freed himself from the sin after visiting Vishnu at Thirukandiyur and taking a holy dip in the temple tank, Kamala Pushkarani. Since Vishnu relieved (vimochana) the sin (saabha) of Shiva (also called Hara), the temple is called Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal Temple. After the incident, the tank came to be known as Kapala Theertham (kapalaindicates skull). Shiva was pleased and he built the Hara Sabha Vimochana temple and also built a temple for himself near it.[1][2]
As per another legend,Lakshmi,the consort of Vishnu requested Shiva to cut off one of Brahma's heads as she felt that Vishnu would ignore her and show all his affection towards Brahma. SageBhrigu,KingMahabaliand the moon-godChandraexpiated their sins, worshipping Vishnu here. Sage Bhrigu, once wanted to test the superior of theTrinityof Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He kicked Vishnu in his chest in anger; the sage atoned here. Chandra sinned by seducinghis guru's wife;he partially expiated by worshipping here.[1]
History
[edit]The temple is believed to have been built by theMedieval Cholasof the late 8th century CE, with later contributions fromVijayanagara kingsandMadurai Nayaks.In modern times, the recorded temple renovation was carried out in 1984 under the aegis of seer Sri Thirukudanthai Vedanta Ramanuja Mahadesikan. The renovation is 2003 was carried out by his successor Sri Rangaramanuja Mahadesikan. The works involved renovation of the gateway tower and the shrines of Hara Saabha Vimocahana Perumal and Kamalavalli Nachiyar.[1]The oldest deities of the temple are found to be that of Santana Gopala and Navneetha Krishna. It is believed thatTipu Sultan,the king of Mysore fought and won a war at this place and later became a devotee of the temple.[3]
Architecture
[edit]
Hara Saabha Vimocchana Perumal Temple is located inThirukandiyur,[4]a village located between Thiruvayyaru andThanjavur,in between the riversCauveryandKudamaurutti.[5]The temple has a three-tieredrajagopuram(gateway tower) and an adjoining granite wall that surrounds the temple. The temple occupies an area of 1 acre (0.0040 km2) and is located in the between the rivers Kudamurutti and Vennar. The temple is located 2 km (1.2 mi) away fromThiruvayaruinThanjavur district.The temple has two precincts and the main gateway faces the east. The central shrine houses the image of Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal in standing posture. The sanctum is approached through two halls, namely, the GarudaMandapamand the Maha Mandapam. Kapala MokshaPushkarani,located on the west side of the temple is the major water body associated with the temple, while the Mahabali Theertham is located opposite to it. The shrine of Kamalavalli Nachiyar, is located in the first precinct. The second precinct houses the shrines forNarasimha,Sudarshana,Andal,Alvars,andVedanta Desika.[1]
Religious significance
[edit]The temple is revered inNalayira Divya Prabandham,the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, byThirumangai Alvarin ten hymns. The temple is classified as aDivya Desam,[6]one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book.[7]The temple is one of the few historical temples in India where the images of HinduTrimurti,Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are housed in the same premises. It is one of the two temples inChola Naduwhere the Trimurti can be seen in the same premises, the other beingUttamar KovilnearTiruchirapalli.The shrines of Brahma and his consortSaraswatiwere dilapidated during the course of time. The place is called by different names like Kandiyur, Kandana Kshetram and Pancha Kamala Kshetram, and is believed that devotees get relieved off their Brahmahatti Dosha after visiting the temple. The temple is considered older thanSrirangam Ranganathaswamy templeand believed to be in existence from theTreta Yuga.[1]
Festivals and religious practices
[edit]The temple priests perform thepooja(rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to theVaishnavaitecommunity, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day:Ushathkalamat 7 a.m.,Kalasanthiat 8:00 a.m.,Uchikalamat 12:00 p.m.,Sayarakshaiat 6:00 p.m.,Irandamkalamat 7:00 p.m. andArdha Jamamat 10:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps:alangaram(decoration),neivethanam(food offering) anddeepa aradanai(waving of lamps) for both Hara Saabha Vimochana Perumal and Kamalavalli Nachiyar. During the last step of worship,nagaswaram(pipe instrument) andtavil(percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in theVedas(sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of thetemple mast.There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. Four major festivals are celebrated in the temple, namely, the Panguni Brahmmotsavam celebrated during theTamil monthinPanguni(March–April), Aipasi Pavithra Utsavam inAipasi(October–November),Vaikunta EkadashiinMargali(December–January) and Karthikai Deepam inKarthikai(November–December).[7]
References
[edit]- ^abcdeT.A., Srinivasan (21 March 2003)."Temple for the Great Trinity".The Hindu.Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2003.Retrieved21 February2016.
- ^Ayyar, P. V. Jagadisa (1982).South Indian Shrines: Illustrated.New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 534.ISBN9788120601512.
- ^R., Dr. Vijayalakshmy (2001).An introduction to religion and Philosophy - Tévarám and Tivviyappirapantam(1st ed.). Chennai: International Institute of Tamil Studies. pp. 458–9.
- ^Karkar, S.C. (2009).The Top Ten Temple Towns of India.Kolkota: Mark Age Publication. p. 81.ISBN978-81-87952-12-1.
- ^"Temple for the Great Trinity".The Hindu.11 June 2005.Retrieved21 February2016.[dead link]
- ^"An NGO does its bit for god - and humanity".New Delhi, India: Hindustan Times. 29 April 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 14 April 2018.Retrieved13 April2018– viaHighBeam Research.
- ^ab"Sri Hara Shaba Vimochana Perumal temple".Dinamalar.Retrieved21 February2016.