Skip to main content

CHENNARAYA PERUMAL TEMPLE - VISHNU - THE OCEAN OF MILK - ATHIYAMAAN KOTTAI

CHENNARAYA PERUMAL TEMPLE - ATHIYAMAAN KOTTAI – DHARMAPURI – TAMILNADU.




Courtyard with the Garuda Sannadi 


Chennamma Naicker a cowherd by profession, who lived during the period of King Krishna Deva Raya of the Vijayanagara dynasty, was returning home one day after gracing his cows. He found one cow missing and on searching for the same he found the cow, and to his utter astonishment, the cow was feeding a child with milk from its udder.



The cow which had not delivered a calf till date, feeding milk to a child was a strange sight, and he presumed it could be only a form of divine intervention. The boy summoned Chennamma Naicker and gave him Darshan as Lord Maha Vishnu.(Perumal). The Lord told Chennamma that he wished to stay in the hills and asked Chennamma to build a Temple for him. As lord Mahavishnu came to his Devotee, he is known as Chendru(Devotee) Aiya(Lord), which got corrupted to Chenraya Perumal.



The Temple was in existence pre Hoysala and Vijayanagara Kingdoms. It is in a place called Athiyamaan Kottai(Fort built by King Athiyamaan) today. However, the stone structure seems to have been built by the Hoysala’s around the 13th Century. Later it passed on to the Vijayanagara kingdom. King Krishna Deva Raya seems to have visited the Temple.




Mukhamandapam with elucid paintings


The temple has a Mukhadwaram without a Gopuram(Tower), which leads into a rectangular courtyard. On entrance is the Balipeetham, Dhwaja Sthambam, and a small sanctum for Garuda facing Lord Mahavishnu. In the courtyard is the main temple consisting of the Mukhamandapam, Ardhamandapam & the Garbhagriha which has a Vimana. On the vimana is an erotic scene as found in Khajuraho. The presiding deity is Lord Mahavishnu with his consorts Shridevi & Bhudevi. The images are of a size of 4 to 5 feet.



Mukhadwaram


The Mukhmandapam is an art galore of painting naturally died on the ceiling, depicting the lores of Mahabharata, Ramayana and Lord Mahavishnu showing his Vishwaroopam, with the entire living and nonliving etched on his body signifying the preserver of Life forms. The paintings are also highlighted in Kannada script.
Vegetable dye paintings,Ramayana, Mahabhrarata & Vishwarupam of LOrd Vishnu
The temple came into the influence of King Athiyamaan Neduman Anji. Athiyamaan must have been a great King, whose annals are lost in history books and needs much more attention. The King ruled from a place called Thagadoor, which is the modern day Dharmapuri in Tamilnadu, but his residence was in Adhiyamaan Fort about 8 Kms from Dharmapuri. He was one of the 7 greatest Donors amongst the dynasties of Tamilnadu. The Athiyamaan dynasty ruled from Thagadoor atleast from the 3rd Century CE. The dynasty is also known as “Satyaputra’s”, the Clan of Truth. Rock inscriptions of the Sangam period, The Ashoka Edicts, the inscriptions of Jambai, modern day Tirukoilur mention about their sovereignty starting from 1st century CE.

Elephant motif on the Balipeedam


https://photos.app.goo.gl/n7jpotS37r8vmEAP8

 https://goo.gl/maps/rEJqbTR7ukqAdRJZ9
https://www.facebook.com/murali.natarajan.7/posts/10215907727702057


https://twitter.com/murali12345678/status/1245930798009561096?s=19
Labels:
Location: Adhiyaman Kottai, A.Jettihalli, Tamil Nadu, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THYAGARAJASWAMY TEMPLE - TIRUVOTRIYUR

  THIRUVOTRIYUR THYAGARAJASWAMY TEMPLE....! The Adipurishwarar and Thyagarajaswamy Thiagarajaswamy Temple in Tiruvotriyur is more famously known as Vadivudai Amman Temple. The huge temple complex stands majestically in this bustling commercial and industrial area on the outskirts of Chennai. The temple was originally built by the Pallavas and later rebuilt by the great king, Rajendra Chola I.The Chola kings, who were reigning in Thondainadu (this area), patronized the worship of Shiva. King Rajendra Chola rebuilt the central shrine of Adipureeswarar and a vimanam (dome) of black stone was added.... The uniqueness of this temple is that devotees from six sects of Hinduism perform poojas here. Followers of Shiva, Vishnu and Shakthi andUchavar, AdiSaivites and Namboodris (from Kerala) come to this temple and worship the manifestations of Shiva and Shakthi....! Thiruvotriyur is about 10 kms from Chennai,the capital of Tamil Nadu. This temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam, a holy place prai...
Post a Comment
Read more

VAIKUNTHA PERUMAL TEMPLE OR THIRU PARAMESHWARA VINNAGARAM KANCHIPURAM

  THIRU PARAMESHWARA VINNAGARAM OR VAIKUNTHA PERUMAL TEMPLE KANCHIPURAM Thiru Parameswara (The greatest Lord) Vinnagaram (temple) or Vaikunta Perumal Temple is a temple dedicated to Vishnu & his concert Vaikundavalli located in Kanchipuram. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple finds mention in the Divya Prabhanda the early medieval tamil literature of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one among the 108 temples dedicated to Vishnu. The temple is considered the second oldest extant temples in Kanchipuram after the Kailasanathar temple & is in a straight line facing each other, though seperated by 3.5 KMs. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallava king Nandivarman (720-796 CE), with later contributions from Chola's and Vijayanagara Kings. The temple is surrounded by a granite wall enclosing all the shrines and a pond of the temple. The outer walls of the inner praharam is full of Kalakrithis related to the lord....
Post a Comment
Read more

ELEPHANTA CAVES PART 15 - FINAL - ICONOGRAPHY OF ELEPHANTA CAVES - GHARAPURI

GHARAPURI - ELEPHANTA CAVES 15 - FINAL ICONOGRAPHY OF ELEPHANTA CAVES MAHESHAMURTHY  NOT TRIMURTHY The Gharapuri or Elephanta Caves must have been built between the 5th and 6th century C.E., the five  Hindu and two Buddhist caves collectively known as the Elephanta Caves have survived through centuries of habitation, invasion and neglect. The island and its resident caves received the name ‘Elefanta Ishle’ from Portuguese invaders after the discovery of a black stone sculpture of an elephant on the island, now housed outside Mumbai’s  Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum . VAMADEVA The excavations of cave temples in this region are divided into three classes according to the sects to which they belong, namely Buddhist, Brahmanical Hindu, and Jains. The earliest known architecture are the Buddhist around 3 rd century BC, Brahmanical caves whether connected to Shiva or Vishnu came next around the 4 th century to 8 th century Current Era and can be termed...
Post a Comment
Read more