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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


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Location: Adhiyaman Kottai, A.Jettihalli, Tamil Nadu, India

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