|
The Saranathan Temple in Thirucherai, a village in the outskirts of Kumbakonam in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the ''Divya Prabandha'', the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 ''Divyadesam'' dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Saranathan and his consort Lakshmi as Saranayaki. It is believed that Saranathan appeared for Cauvery, the river goddess, who performed penance at this place. The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity with contributions at different times from Medieval Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire and Madurai Nayaks. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and three of the four bodies of water. The ''rajagopuram'', the temple's gateway tower has five tiers and raises to a height of . The temple is unique where the presiding deity Vishnu has five consorts. It has also a shrine dedicated to river Cauvery, which is unique feature among all Vishnu temples. Saranathan is believed to have appeared to river Cauvery, sage Markandeya and Hindu gods Indra. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the chariot festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of ''Chittirai'' (March–April), is the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. ==Legend== As per Hindu legend, when time came to destroy the world and finish the yuga, Brahma was worried a lot. He pleaded Vishnu to tell him a way to keep the tools necessary for Srishti and all vedas safely. Vishnu ordered him to put all these things in a strong mud pot and after trying mud from all places Brahma finally made a pot out of the sand taken from Thirucherai and saved all [''[Vedha]]s'' and all necessary aids for creation. Hence as this placed gave the magical mud which held a lead role this place became the reason for all living things to live even after the Maha pralaya so this place is called “Sara Shetram”. Among all rivers, there was a question on who was superior. All the rivers approached the Hindu god of creation, Brahma. He said that during the Vamana avatar, Vishnu appeared as dwarf and later became Trivikrama to the king Mahabali. He placed his third feet on the demon king and cleansed Ganga by placing his foot on it. Based on the narration, Brahma quoted that Ganga was the holiest of all rivers. River Cauvery wanted her status to be equal to river Ganges and performed a severe penance. To test her devotion, Vishnu appeared in the form of a child in front of her. Realising the anonymity, Cauvery treated the child with care and motherly devotion. Vishnu was pleased with her devotion and revealed all his ten avatars to her and asked her to visit Sara Kshetram and have a holy dip in the Sara Pushkarani.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saranathan Temple」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|