THESARANGAPANI TEMPLE, KUMBAKONAM THANJAVUR DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU-COMPILED
Dear friends,
Today my posting is about Saranga Pani temple at Kumbakonamin the Thanjavur
District. It is one of the 108 Vaishnavite Divya desams.
During temple visits after retirement and while working inPudukkottai as (SG)
Junior Engineer I had visited the temple
Hope a divine reading.
Gopalakrishnan 12-05-2025
Legend
As per Hindu legend, the Vaishnava deity, Sarangapani, anincarnation of Hindu
god Vishnu, appeared for a sage Hema Rishi, who performed penance in the bankof
Potramarai tank. Thepenance was performed to obtain Lakshmi, the consort of
Vishnu, as hisdaughter.
Vishnu was pleased by the penance and he wished the sage toget Lakshmi as his
daughter. Lakshmi emerged from the Potramarai tank amongthousand lotuses and
was thus named Komalavalli (the one who emerged from lotus).
Vishnu descended toearth as Aravamudhan in a chariot drawn by horses and
elephants from his abodeVaikuntam. He stayed in the temple to convince Lakshmi
to marry him and thecouple eventually got married .
Why is Vishnu calledSarangapani?
The name Sarangapani ("one who has the bow in his hand")derives from the
Sanskrit word Sharanga, the bow of Vishnu, and pani meaninghand.
Introduction
Sarangapani Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu,located in Kumbakonam,
Tamil Nadu. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108temples of Vishnu revered in
Nalayira Divya Prabandham by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars.
This temple is along Kaveri and is one of the PancharangaKshetrams. It is
thelargest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam and has the tallest temple tower in
thetown.
History
The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity withcontributions at
different times from Medieval Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire andMadurai Nayaks.
The site of the Sarangapani Temple may have been a Vaishnavasettlement as early
as the 7th or 8th century. Oral traditions dating to theearly Chola period
reference the temple. The earliest epigraphical evidence ofthe temple dates to
the late Chola period (10th-12th centuries). The templebecame significant under
the Vijayanagara and Nayaka rulers (15-17thcenturies), who expanded its
structure; their patronage represented a shiftfrom the Cholas' interest in
sponsoring Shaivite temples in Kumbakonam.
During Nayaka rule in the 17th century, a Vaishnava matha(monastic institution)
became associated with the temple.
The Mahasamprokshanam also known as kumbhabhishekam of thetemple was held on 13
July 2015. A large number of devotees took part in theMahasamprokshanam
Architecture
The temple is enshrined within a huge wall and the complexenshrines all the
water bodies of the temple except the Potramarai tank.
The rajagopuram (the main gateway)has eleven tiers and has a height of 173 ft
(53 m). The Potramaraitank, the temple tank, is located opposite to the western
entrance of thetemple.
There are five other smaller gopurams in the temple. Therajagopuram has figures
depicting various religious stories. The temple faces east andthe Potramarai
tank is located outside the western entrance. The central shrine of the temple
isin the form of a chariot drawn by horses and elephants, withopenings on
either side, showing the descent of Sarangapani from heaven in thechariot.
There is a sculptural representation of the sage Hemarishi inthe western part
of the temple.
Deities
The central shrine, the sanctum is approached via a100-pillared hall. The inner
sanctum in the form of a chariot is guarded byDwaraplakas facing the outer
entrance. The central shrine of the temple housesthe image of Sarangapani
inpallikonda posture, with his head resting on his right hand.
As per legend, Tirumalisai Alvar was singing praise ofAravamudan and he
requested him to raise up from his reclining position.Aramudan started raising
to gargantuan proportion forcing Thirumalisai Alvar torequest him to recline
again. Theidol stopped midway and the current posture, Uthana Sayi was
established.
There are other images of sage Hemarishi, Lakshmi andfestival images enshrined
within the sanctum.
Two entrances to thesanctum
There are two stepped entrances to the sanctum named as Utharayana Vaasal and
DhakshanayanaVaasal, each open for a six-month period. From 15 January to
15July, Utharayanya Vaasal is opened while Dhakshanaya Vaasal is opened
duringthe other half of the year.
The shrine of Komalavalli Thayar is located in the northernpart of the temple
in a shrine parallel to the sanctum.
The Potramarai tank has a central hall called HemarishiMandapam.
Ubhaya pradhanaKshethram.
The temple is called Ubaya Pradhana Kshetram as the mulavar(presiding deity)
and utsavar (festive deity) enjoy the same importance.
Poojas
The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30a.m. to 9 p.m. The
temple follows Pancharatra Agama and Vadakalai tradition.The temple priests
perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a dailybasis. Like other
Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to theBrahmin Vaishnavite sect.
The temple rituals are performed six times a day;Tiruvanandal at 8:00 a.m.,
Kala santhi at 9:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:30 p.m.,Ntiyanusandhanam at 6:00
p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:30 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at9:00 p.m.
Each ritual comprises three steps: alangaram (decoration),neivethanam (food
offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for bothSarangapani and Thayar.
The food offering during the six times are curd rice, Ven pongal, spiced rice,
dosa, Ven pongal and sugarpongal respectively.
The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipeinstrument) and tavil
(percussion instrument), religious instructions in theVedas (sacred text) read
by priests and prostration by worshippers in front ofthe temple mast. There are
weekly, fortnightly and monthly rituals.
Festivals
Twelve yearly festivals areon its calendar. Thetemple chariot festival is the
most prominent festival of the temple,celebrated during the Tamil month of
Chittirai (March–April). The twin templechariots are the third largest in Tamil
Nadu, each weighing 300 t (660,000 lb).
Other important festivalsare Akshaya Tritiyai, Garuda Sevai,
Vasantotsavamduring Vaikasi (May - June), Pavitrotsavam - Ekadasi Jyeshotsavam
duringAdi(July - August), Sri Jayanthi - Uriyadi Utsavam during Avani (August
-September), Navaratri Utsavam - Saraswathi Puja - Vijayadasami during
Purattasi(September - October), Deepavali - Shraddha of Sri Lakshmi
Narayanaswami duringAippasi (October - November), Deepa Utsavam - Unjal Utsavam
during Karthigai(November - December), Pakal Pattu - Ira Pattu Pongal
Sankaramana Utsavamduring Margazhi (December - January), Kanu Utsavam -
Amavasya - Ratha Saptamiduring Thai (January - February), Masi Magaham - Float
Festival during Masi(February - March) and Brahmmotsavam - Tirukkalyanotsavam
during Panguni (March- April) are the festivals celebrated in the temple.
Vaikuntha Ekadashi
Vaikuntha Ekadashi falls during Dhanur solar month in Hinducalendar. Dhanur
month or Dhanurmasa is known as Margazhi month in TamilCalendar. Vaikuntha
Ekadashi is Shukla Paksha Ekadashi out of two KrishnaPaksha and Shukla Paksha
Ekadashis in a month. Vaikuntha Ekadashi is observedaccording to Solar Calendar
and because of that it might fall either inMargashirsha or in Pausha month in
Hindu Lunar calendar.
Benefits - VaikunthaEkadashi is also known as Mukkoti Ekadashi. It is believed
that VaikunthaDwaram or the gate of Lord's inner sanctum is opened on this day
and devoteeswho observe fast on Vaikuntha Ekadashi attain salvation by going to
Heaven.
Vaikuntha Ekadashi is known as Swarga Vathil Ekadashi inMalayalam Calendar
followed by people of Kerala.
Makara Sankranthi
Makara Sankranti, also known as Makaraa Sankrānti or Maghi,is a festival day in
the Hindu calendar, in reference to deity Surya. It isobserved each year in
January. It marks the first day of sun's transit into theMakara, marking the
end of the month with the winter solstice and the start oflonger days.
Masi Float Festival
The `Maiya mandapam' in the centre of the six-acre tank andthe float were
decorated with flowers and serial lights. The deities were takenaround the tank
on the `theppam' thrice, before being taken to the mandapam.Earlier in the day,
Sri Namperumal, processional deity, along with Sri UbayaNachiars, was taken out
from the sanctum sanctorum to the Asthana mandapam.
Kethu Peyarchi
Kethu peyarchi will be celebrated once in 1 year 6 months, whichis celebrated
to mark the planet transition.
Devotees visit thetemple for
Devotees pray to planet Kethu for excellence in education andfamily prosperity
in this temple. Those facing some adverse aspects of this planet,pray first to
Lord NaganathaSarangapani
Religious significance
Sarangapani temple isconsidered third in the line of Srirangam and Tirupathi
temples. The temple is revered in DivyaPrabandham, the 7th–9th century
Vaishnava canon, by Andal in one, Periyalvar inthree, Bhuthath Alvar in two,
Tirumalisai Alvar in seven, Peialvar in two,Nammalvar in eleven and Thirumangai
Alvar in 25 verses.
As per a Hindu legend, Nathamuni, who compiled Divya Prabandham by thetwelve
alvars, found only thefirst ten verses sung on Aravamudhan. Nammalvarrecited
the remaining 3990 verses unconsciously while he was in deep meditationand
Nathamuni compiled all of them.
Kumbhakonam Mahamaham
Five Vishnu temples are connected with Mahamaham festivalwhich happens once in
12 years in Kumbakonam - Sarangapani Temple, ChakrapaniTemple, Ramaswamy
Temple, Rajagopalaswamy Temple, and Varahaperumal Temple.
Death rituals
As per a temple legend, once a staunch Brahmin devotee of Aravamudhan spent
most of hislife to the service of the deity. At the end of his life, he felt
hisloneliness and prayed for his karma to be performed. Aravamudhan
descendedhimself to perform the last rites on a Deepavali day. The ritual is
performedannually by the priests and is one of its kind where death rituals
areperformed in the precincts of a Vishnu temple.
Address of the temple
Arulmigu Sarangapani Temple
Kumbakonam-612 001Ph.No:0435 243 0349
TamilNadu
How to reach thetemple
By Road
The temple is well connected by road networks. There areregular bus services to
Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Karaikal,Pudukkottai, Madurai,
Tirunelveli, Mayiladudhurai, Pattukkottai, Bangalore,Ernakulam, Ooty and Mysore.
By Train
The nearest railway station to Sri Sarangapani Temple is Kumbakonam railway
station which is3 Km away from the temple.
By Air
The nearest airport to Sri Sarangapani Temple is Trichy airport, which is 100Km
away from the temple.
Administration
The temple is maintained and administered by the HinduReligious and Charitable
Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
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