Ramanathaswamy Temple

Coordinates: 9°17′17″N 79°19′02″E / 9.288106°N 79.317282°E / 9.288106; 79.317282
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple
Arulmigu Sri Ramanathaswamy Thirukoil
Tamil architecture
CreatorPandya and Jaffna kings
Jagannath Puri
Rameswaram
Dwarka
Badrinath

Ramanathaswamy Temple (Rāmanātasvāmi Kōyil) is a

Smarthas
.

Legend

which?] (Hindu scriptures), upon the advice of sages, Rama along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the lingam[citation needed](an iconic symbol of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya incurred while killing Ravana (who was a Brahmin and son of Vishrava). To worship Shiva, Rama directed his trusted lieutenant Hanuman (avatar of Shiva himself) to bring it from Himalayas. Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita built a lingam made of sand from the nearby seashore, which is also believed to be the one in the sanctum of the temple. This account is well supported by the original Ramayana authored by Valmiki where it is written in Yudha Kanda.[where?] According to another version, as quoted in Adhyatma Ramayana, Rama installed the lingam before the construction of the bridge to Lanka. This version also finds reference
in Valmiki Ramayana, where Sri Rama on his way back to Ayodhya, shows an Island to Sita from the Pushpaka Vimana, saying he received grace of MahaDeva at that place.

History

A historic image of the temple corridor. The corridor is the longest for any Hindu temple in India
A modern image of the temple corridor

The temple in its current form is believed to have been built during the 17th century, while Fergusson believes the small

Parakrama Bahu (1153–1186 CE) was involved in the construction of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.[5] Also, Sri Lankan king Nissanka Malla, contributed to the temple's development by making donations and sending workers.[6]

Pappakudi a village was donated as a grant to Rameshwaram Temple and one Deva Venkala Perumal Ramanathar in (1667 CE) by Perumal Servaikaran Son of Sokkappan Servaikarar who belongs to Pandiyur. They are local Chieftain under Tirumalai Regunatha Sethupathy Thevar Rein in Ramnad Kingdom. The grant details are published by Government Press, Madras Presidency for Archeological Survey of India in 1885. Along with Pappakudi, Anandur and Urasur villages are also donated to Rameshwaram Temple. These Villages falls under Melaimakani Seermai province of Radhanallur Division.[7]

The temple is one of the most famous pilgrimage sites and has several historical references about it. The Maratha kings who ruled Thanjavur established chatrams or rest houses throughout Mayiladuthurai and Rameswaram between 1745 and 1837 CE and donated them to the temple.[8]

Architecture

Image of the east and west temple towers

The primary deity of the temple is Ramanathaswamy (

Kailash, called the Vishvalingam.[9][5] Rama is said to have instructed that the Vishvalingam be worshipped first since it was brought by Hanuman - the tradition continues even today.[5]

Like all ancient temples in

Gopurams) to the east and the west and finished gate towers to the north and south. The temple has striking long corridors in its interior, running between huge colonnades on platforms above five feet high.[4]

The second corridor is formed by sandstone pillars, beams, and ceiling. The junction of the third corridor on the west and the paved way leading from the western gopuram to the Setumadhava shrine forms a unique structure in the form of a chess board, popularly known as Chokkattan Madapam, where the

Ramnad
.

The outer set of corridors is reputed to be the longest in the world, measuring about 6.9 m in height, 400 feet each in the east and west and about 640 feet in the north and the south. The inner corridors are about 224 feet each in the east and the west and about 352 feet each in the north and the south.[10] Their width varies from 15.5 feet to 17 feet in the east and west about 172 feet on the north and south with width varying 14.5 feet to 17 feet.[5][10] The total length of these corridors is thus 3850 feet. There are about 1212 pillars in the outer corridor.[10] Their height is about 30 feet from the floor to the center of the roof. The main tower or rajagopuram is 53 m tall.[2] Most pillars are carved with individual compositions.[10] At the beginning, Ramanathaswamy Temple was a thatched shed. The present structure was the work of many individuals spread over a number of centuries. The pride of place in the establishment of the Temple goes to the Setupatis of Ramanathapuram. In the seventeenth century, Dalavai Setupati built a portion of the main eastern Gopuram. In the late eighteenth century, the world-famous third corridor was constructed by Muthuramalinga Setupati who lived for forty-nine years and ruled between 1763 and 1795. The corridor was called "Chokkatan Mandapam". The Mukhya Pradhani (Chief Minister) was Muthuirullappa Pillai and the Chinna Pradhani (Deputy Chief Minister) was Krishna Iyengar. The Setupati's statue and those of his two Pradhanis (ministers) can be seen at the western entrance to the third corridor.

The composite columns of

Srivaikuntam, Avudayarkovil, Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar temple at Thirukkurungudi.[11]

There are separate shrines for Ramanathaswamy and his consort goddess Parvathavardhini separated by a corridor.[4] There are separate shrines for the goddess Vishalakshi, the utsava images, sayanagriha, Vishnu and Ganesha. The samadhi of the great Yogi Patanjali is said to be at this temple and there is a separate shrine for him here. There are various halls inside the temple, namely Anuppu Mandapam, Sukravara Mandapam, Setupati Mandapam, Kalyana Mandapam, and Nandi Mandapam.

Temple Tanks

Main article: Tirthas of Rameswaram
Agni Theertham - the primary sea shore associated with the temple

There are sixty-four Tīrthas (holy water bodies) in and around the island of

Rāmanāthasvāmī Temple.[15] The number 22 indicates the 22 arrows in Rama's quiver.[9] The first and major one is called Agni Theertham, the sea (Bay of Bengal).[2]

Rameswaram is one of the few temples that has the distinction of being the stala, Murthy, Theertham. Ramanathaswamy Temple Theertham is very special. There are 22 theerthams in the form of a pond and a well. These 22 theerthams represent the 22 arrows of Sri Rama.[16]

Significance today

Char Dham

Adi Sankara, the Guru of Advaita, who is believed to have started the Char Dhams

The temple is one of the holiest

Saivism and Vaishnavism. The Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair.[19] There are four abodes in the Himalayas called Chota Char Dham (Chota meaning small): Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - all of these lie at the foothills of Himalayas.[20] The name Chota was added during the mid of 20th century to differentiate the original Char Dhams.[2] The journey across the four cardinal points in India is considered sacred by Hindus who aspire to visit these temples once in their lifetime.[21] Traditionally the trip starts at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding in clockwise direction in a manner typically followed for circumambulation in Hindu temples.[21]

Jyotirlinga

As per the

Aurangabad, Maharashtra.[22][27] This temple is the southernmost of all the twelve Jyotirlingas.[28]

In the news

The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.[29] The temple comes under the renovation and consecration of the 630 temples planned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.[30] Temple authorities had planned to renovate and widen the pathways to the 22 holy theerthams of the temple.[30] The consecration of the temple was planned during 2013.[30] The temple is among those offering free meals under the Free Meals Scheme of the government, which provides meals to devotees of the temple. A pilgrim house is planned by the government to extend the scheme to more pilgrims.[30]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "King 'Rebel' remembered". The Hindu. 31 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e V., Meena. Temples in South India. Kanniyakumari: Harikumar Arts. pp. 11–12.
  3. ISBN 978-93-5057-251-1
    .
  4. ^ a b c Cole 1885, pp. clxvi-clxvii
  5. ^ a b c d e Bandopadhyay, pp. 88-89
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka in Early Indian Inscriptions": 5. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Burgess, Jas; Sastri, S. M. (Tr.) (1886). Archaeological Survey of Southern India, Vol. IV; Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions, with some Notes on Village Antiquites, collected chiefly in the South of the Madras Presidency. Madras: E. Keys, the Government Press.
  8. ^ M. 2003, p. 154
  9. ^ a b Singh 2009, p. 18
  10. ^ a b c d T. 2007, p. 28
  11. S2CID 154135978
    .
  12. ^ Murali 2000, p. 574
  13. ^ Setu Māhātmyam, Adhyāya 2, verse 104
  14. ^ Setu Māhātmyam, Adhyāya 1, verse 24
  15. ^ Seturaman 2001, p. 216
  16. ISBN 978-81-87952-12-1
    .
  17. ^ Chakravarti 1994, p. 140
  18. ^ Mittal 2004, p. 482
  19. ^ Brockman 2011, pp. 94-96
  20. ^ Mittal 2004, pp. 482-3
  21. ^ a b c Gwynne 2008, Section on Char Dham
  22. ^ a b c R. 2003, pp. 92-95
  23. ^ Eck 1999, p. 107
  24. ^ a b Lochtefeld 2002, pp. 324-325
  25. ^ Harding 1998, pp. 158-158
  26. ^ Vivekananda Vol. 4
  27. ^ Chaturvedi 2006, pp. 58-72
  28. ISBN 978-93-83440-34-4
    .
  29. ^ "Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959". Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  30. ^ a b c d Zee News 2012

References

External links

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