Hayagrivar and Hanumar Temple

Hayagriva is Gnanadamurthy in Hinduism, he is considered a minor incarnation of Vishnu. Originated as a horse god and became an avatar associated with wisdom and knowledge. At the request of Brahma, Hayagreeva rescued the Vedas stolen by two demons. His attributes are the book (Veda), horse’s mane, and rosary plus the attributes of Vishnu. He is worshipped by Devas, Rishis, Seers and Sages, Alwars and Acharyas.

According to Hindu mythology, Vinayaka and Hanuman God are not affected by Sani. Hanuman granted fortitude and strength, who worships him. The main feature of this temple is Sri Anjaneyar found in such a position that he is stamping his leg on Sani Bhagavan. By visiting this temple one get the blessing of Sri Anjaneyar and get rid of the Sani Dosham.

The history is, during the Rama and Ravana war Hanuman in search of Sanjeevini herbal took the whole mountain instead of the herbal. On the way to returning he was stopped by Sani. The Sani baghavan said to Hanumar, Ravana asked him to stop. Knowing that angered Hanuman stamped Sani with one of his leg. Finally Hanuman released Sani from his foot, after getting a promise of “The sani should not catch any of the devotees who chant the great Sri Rama Nama and who worshipped him”. And at last, with the help of Sanjeevini Lakshmanan and others got their energies and power.

The temple is situated near Mela Kavery in Kumbakonam Varadharaja Temple , Chakarapani temple and Varaga temple are very near to this temple.

Sarangpani Temple

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 complex contains all the shrines and the water bodies of the temple. The Rajagopuram (the main gateway) has eleven tiers and has a height of 173 ft (53 m). The Potramarai tank, the temple tank, is located opposite to the western entrance of the temple.

As per Hindu legend, the Vaishnava deity, Sarangapani, an incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, appeared for a sage Hema Rishi, who performed penance in the bank of Potramarai tank. The penance was performed to obtain Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, as his daughter. Vishnu was pleased by the penance and he wished to get Lakshmi as his daughter Lakshmi emerged from the Potramarai tank among thousand lotuses and was thus named Komalavalli (the one who emerged from lotus). Vishnu descended to earth as Aravamudhan in a chariot drawn by horses and elephants from his abode vaikuntam. He stayed in the nearby Someswaran Temple to woo Lakshmi to marry him and the couple eventually got married. The name Sarangapani derives from the Tamil word Sarangam meaning bow and pani meaning hand – the one holding bow in his hand is Sarangapani.

Sarangapani is the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam and has the tallest temple tower in the town. The temple is enshrined within a huge wall and the complex enshrines all the water bodies of the temple except the Potramarai tank. The Rajagopuram (the man gateway) has eleven tiers and has a height of 173 ft (53 m). There are five other smaller gopurams in the temple. The Rajagopuram has figures depicting various religious stories. The temple faces east and the Potramarai of the temple is in the form of a chariot drawn by horses and elephants, with openings on either side, showing the descent of Sarangapani from heaven in the chariot. There is a sculptural representation of the sage Hemarishi in the western part of the temple. The central shrine of the temple houses the image of Sarangapani in pallikonda posture, with his head resting on his right hand. There are other images of sage Hemarishi, Lakshmi and festival images enshrined within the sanctum. There are two stepped entrances to the sanctum named as Utharayana Vaasal and Dhakshanayana Vaasal is opened during the other half of the year. The Potramarai tank has a central hall called Hemarishi Mandapam. The temple 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 are sculpted around the walls of the temple. Similar sculptures are found in the Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur and Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram.

As per a temple legend, once a staunch Brahmin devotee of Aravamudhan spent most of his life to the service of the deity. At the end of his life, he felt his loneliness and prayed for his karma to be performed. Aravamudhan descended himself to perform the last rites on a day. The rituals are performed in the precincts of a Vishnu temple.

Chakkarapani Temple

Chakkarapani temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu, India. This temple is located 2 km away towards North West from the Kumbakonam Railway Station. In the temple Lord Vishnu appears with the discus or chakra to put down the pride of Surya (the sun), who subsequently became his devotee. Like Shiva, Lord Chakkarapani has a third eye on his fore head. The temple is one of the most prominent temples in Kumbakonam.

The temple is noted for its exquisite pillars. The presiding deity, Chakkarapani has 8 arms. There is a bronze image of kind Serfoji II worshipping the lord as he is said to have been cured an illness by the glance of this God. A fie faced (Panchamuka) Hanuman is erected in the prakaram (outer precincts of the temple)

In 1620, when Govinda Dikshitar, divan-administrator for the Nayaks, constructed the Ramaswamy temple Kumnakonam, he added a commercial corridor between the new temple and the older Chakkarapani Temple.

The Eastern and Western entrances of this temple are known as ‘Thatchinya vayil’ and ‘Utharayana Vayil’ respectively and outer prakara of this temple is made in the form of balcony

Agampara Vinayakar, Panchamuga Anchaneyar and Vijayavalli are the important idols located in this temple.

Chakra Padithurai is a famous ghat in Kumbakonam parallel to the shrine of the temple situated across the river Cauvery Neivethanam (sacred offering) performed every day for the deity is dependent on the smoke emanating from the burning of corpses from the ghat. It is pertinent to an ideology that God performs the Chakra (cycle) of life and death. The important and peculiar point about this temple is that vilva archana which is normally performed in Shiva temples is also performed here for the Perumal (Lord Vishnu).

Chakkarapani temple is the biggest Vaishnavite temple in Kumbakonam town. The main deity of this temple is Sri Chakkarath Alwaar with Sri Vijayavalli and Sudharasana valli.

Bramman Temple:

Bramman temple, also known as Shri Vedanarayana Perumal temple. The prime Shri Vedanarayana Perumal temple deities in this temple are Shri Bramman, Shri Vedanarayan Perumal, Shri Narashimha moorthy, Elumalayaan Srinivasa Perumal and Shri Aandaal.

Lord Brahmma with his consorts Mother Sarswathi and Mother Gayatri in a standing posture seeking the blessings of Lord Vedanarayana Perumal, second darshan is of Lord Veda Narayana Perumal accompanied by his consorts Mother Sridevi and Bhoodevi and third is for Lord Yoda Narashimha with his two consorts. Thus, the devotee can have the darshan of three Lords in the temple.

Iravadheeswarar Shiva Temple:

Iravadheeswarar Shiva Temple is located at Dharasuram, 3 kms from Kumbakonam (Kumbakonam-Papanasam Bus route). The main deity of this temple is Iravadheeswarar with Dhaivanayaki Amman.

The temple is a sculptural gallery and a recognized UNESCO World Heritage monument.

Iravatham, the white coloured elephant of Indhran, lost its white colour due to a curse of sage Dhurvasar. It prayed Shiva here and got its colour back. So the name of Shiva here is iravadheeswarar.

An asura named Thara worshipped Shiva here alongwith his 100 wives and so the name Tharasuram.

Built by Raja Raja Chola II, this is one of the four temples along with Tanjore Brahadeeswarar (Raja Raja Chola), Gangai Konda Cholapuram (Rajendhra Chola) and Thirubhuvanam (Kulothunga Chola III) which are built by the four Chola Kings as a show of their kingdom’s artistic and architectural skill. This temple is more popular for architectural and sculptural work than worship and divinity.

The temple is full of intricate sculptural works carved all over without leaving even an inch of empty space. It will take many hours to completely see the sculptural works. The main mantapa is called Raja Gambira as the elephant, draws the chariot. A mantapa has been specially built for Lord Sarabheshwara. There are musical steps as well as many miniature carvings in the size of match stick.