RAJAGOPALASWAMY TEMPLE - MANIMANGALAM

 Rajagopalaswamy Temple – Manimangalam - Chennai

Bheeshma folded both his hands and invited Krishna by saying “Come Paranthama, I will be blessed, dying at your hands”. Shri Krishna had picked up his discuss Sudarshana chakra and ran towards Bheeshma, to kill him. Arjuna ran behind and fell at the feet of Krishna and reminded him of his Vow of not taking weapon in his hand. All played this drama very well. Arjuna, who was in two minds for killing his great great grand sire, became determined by this act of Sri Krishna. Bheeshma had vowed to Duryodhana that either he will kill Arjuna or make Shri Krishna, take weapon in his hand. The all-pervading Krishna knew of this vow of Bheeshma and saved Arjuna by taking weapon in his hand, breaking his own vow made to Duryodhana.

The sudarshana in the right Hand is mood in which Lord Vishnu in an Ugra swabhava  is willing to save his bhakthas from harm. Manimanagalam is a place in the history for the famous war fought between the Chalukya King Pulikesi II and the Pallava King Narasimhavarman I. In the battle Pulikesi was defeated and his hordes of soldiers were chased up to Vatapi.(Current Badami in Karnataka).

In the land of Battles, is this temple dedicated to Shri Vishnu in the form of Rajagopalaswamy, who is in his Shanta Swabhava with the Panchajanya ( Conch) in his right hand and the Sudarshan in his left hand. As per me the conch on the right hand signifies Peace and tranquility. The main deity is Lord Rajagopalaswamy in a standing position with Shridevi & Bhudevi by his sides. All the idols of Vishnu in this temple have the Panchajanya in their right hand. This feature of holding the conch in the right hand is very unique and I do not know if there are any other temple where Lord Vishnu is represented in this fashion. His lower right hand is in the Abhaya Hasta Mudra and in the left hand he is holding the Kaumodaki(Mace).

The temple is more than 1000 years old and was consecrated during the Chola period. Inscriptions in the temple talk about the contribution from Kulothunga I, Vikrama & Raja Raja Chola.

The temple is spread across an area of 1.25 acres. Apart from the Moolavar (7 feet tall)with his consorts, there are separate shines for Sengamalavalli & Andal in the precinct on the left and right side of the Main shrine. Before the mukhadwara (without Gopuram) is a four pillared mandapa, outside the temple.On entering the Mukhadwar you come into the precinct and are before the Dhwaja Sthamba ,Bali Peetham & the Garuda Shrine facing the lord.. Walking ahead you come to a pillard courtyard and enter in to the Mukhamandapa  which is pillared with a path around the garbhagriha. The Vimana on top of the Garbhagriha is similar to the one at Tirupathi minus the gold. Round like a bulb. The Garbhagriha and the Mukhamandapa are on a raised platform. In the outer wall there is a window with three vents, which has been perfectly designed with the fight of Valli and Sugreeva.

Another unique feature is this Vishnu temple has 5 Koshtha devata found in the exterior walls of the inner sanctum. Generally Vishnu temples do not have Koshtha devata.Three Vishnu Idols and a Ganesh and Durga.(Unique). On the right side of the inner prahara there is an Idol of Standing Anjaneya with a Mani (Bell) in his tail. Dakshinamoorthy in a Vishnu temple again unique. Dwarapalakas are in painting.

Temple Timing - Morning 06.30 to 10.30AM.

- Evening 03.30 to 07.00 PM.