chariot-Rathakaram Archives

15/Aug/2022

Architect:

Sarangapani Temple is incredibly big, purposeful, well organized, and extremely ancient.
Sarangapani Bhagwan together with his consort Komalavalli Lakshmi is the main deity. He’s in Udyoga Sayanam (Lord lying on his side trying to rise). Gopuram (Entrance Gate) is huge with 12 flights and is nearly 160 ft. high. There are other five Gopurams on this temple premises. The Vaidik Vimana is crafted of silver with great skill. There are two chariots and one is large.

Sarangapani Temple is the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam and has the tallest temple tower in the town. The temple enshrined within a huge wall and the complex enshrines all the water bodies of the temple except the Potramarai tank. The rajagopuram (the main gateway) has eleven tiers and a height of 173 ft (53 m).

The Temple:

The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Sarangam means bow and pani mean hand.

The inner temple is within the form of a chariot-Rathakaram and the Lord is in a sleeping pose on the Serpent bed. The sculpture has got high artistic value and is worth seeing. There are two gates for having darshan. One opens from 14th January to 15th July (Uttarayana Gate) the second one other from 16th July to 13th January (Dakshinayana Gate). The other idols positioned near the main idol are as follows:

near the head -Surya Dev
near the chest of the Lord -Laxmi Devi
in Nabhi (Naval) of Lord -Bramha
near the Charanas (feet of the Lord) -The Saptha Nadhis (7 rivers)

God was Prathyaksha to Mema Muni and Hema Thirth is here.

A place without heaven’s gate:

Heaven gates often found in divine lands. But, there is no heaven gate in this place. There is a reason for this. Vishnu came here directly from Vaikunda. Therefore, there is no gate of heaven because one can attain Paramapadam (salvation) by worshiping him. Also, there is a belief that if one passes through the Utrayana and Tekshinayana gates here, one will reach Paramapadam. One should visit Swami from Tai to Ani through the Utrayana gate and from Adi to Margazhi through the Tetshinayana gate.

Legend:

Once Bhrigu Maharishi visited Vaikundam and went to kick Thirumal’s chest to test his meekness. Thirumal did not prevent this. “Lakshmi, angry that you did not prevent me from touching another man’s foot while I was living in your chest, ” separated from her husband. Realizing the mistake, Bhrigu Maharshi apologized to Thirumal. To Lakshmi, Mother! Don’t get angry. Who among the deities is sattvic to bestow the fruit of a sacrifice? The gods entrusted me with the responsibility of knowing. As a result of that experiment, I pretended to kick your husband.

I want to be a father to you, the mother of the world. You should be born as my daughter, he said. Lakshmi was relieved and blessed by Bhrigu. According to her vow, she said that she would “separate Tirumala and take birth as Bhrigu’s daughter in the world. If she wants to become a daughter, she will have to do penance.” Accordingly, Bhrigu spent penance in the holy land of Kumbakonam. Here Lakshmi incarnated in the lotus flower at Hemabushkarini. He named her Komalavalli and married her off to Tirumal. Because Perumal Charangam came, he called Sarangapani (which means Vishnu has a bow in his hand). This town said to be the house of Mother.

Perumal a Tamil word that means the great one, Narayana or Vishnu.

Groom with father-in-law’s house

This place is mother’s birth house. Tirumala marries her and is a groom with the house. Hence, importance given to the mother here. Although it is a common practice to worship Perumal only after worshiping the mother, in the case of this temple, the design has been made in such a way that Perumal enters the shrine only after visiting the mother shrine. During the opening, the Gomatha Pooja performed at the Swami Shrine performed in front of the Komalavalli Mother Shrine in this temple. Since the Mother is preeminent, the Gomatha Puja is performed in the Swami shrine only after it is performed in the Mother shrine.

How to Reach Sarangapani Temple:

The temple is at a distance of 2 km from Kumbakonam Railway Station and 500 m from Adi Kumbeswarar Temple, Sarangapani. Temple is a Hindu temple situated in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu.