Adhirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple

As per Hindu legend, a demon king named Somukan stole all the Vedas from the Devas and all the sages were worried. They appealed to Vishnu, who appeared as Ranganatha at this place to emerge from water to rescue the scriptures. He is also believed to have advised Brahma at this place. As per another legend, a king named Surakeerthi who was childless worshipped Vishnu at this place to get children. Chandra, the moon god, lost all his glow on account of a curse he incurred. The celestial deities advised him to worship Vishnu at this place. He established a tank and worshipped Ranganatha with the holy waters and believed to have been relieved off his curse. The temple tank, Chandra Pushkarani, is believed to be the tank he established. The celestial deities wanted Vishnu to show them his true form during a night time. Pleased by their devotion, Vishnu is believed to have appeared in Rangantha form and give darshan permanently.

Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam

The temple and its artwork are a subject of numerous different Tamil legends covered in regional Puranic texts. Sriranga Mahathmiyam, for example, is one of the compilation of the temple mythology about its origins.[33] According to it, Brahma was performing austerities during the Samudra Manthana (churning of cosmic ocean), and Srirangam Vimanam emerged as a result. It remained in Satyaloka for ages, was brought to Ayodhya by king Ikshvaku.[1] After Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, had killed the evil demon Ravana, he gave it to King Vibhishana who wanted to be with Rama.[34] When Vibhishana passed through Tiruchi en route to Sri Lanka where he had become the king, the Srirangam Vimanam would not move from the island. So, he gave it to a local king called Dharmavarma, if the king consecrated the Vimanam to face the south cardinal direction eternally, blessing him and Lanka. Hence, it is that the deity (in a reclining posture) faces South, his body aligned to the east–west axis.

As per another legend, Sanaka, the four child sages, came for a darshana of Ranganatha in Srirangam. They were stopped by Jaya and Vijaya, the guardians of Vaikuntha. In spite of their pleadings, they were refused entry. In anger, all four of them cursed the guardians in one voice and left. The guardians approached Vishnu and told him about the curse. Ranganatha said that he would not be able to revert the curse and gave them two options: be born as demons opposing Vishnu in three births or good human beings in the following seven births. Eager to be back with the Lord, The guardians accepted being demons and are believed to have taken the form of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu; Ravana and Kumbhakarna; and Sisupala and Dantavakra. Vishnu assumed four avatars – Varaha, Narasimha, Rama, and Krishna, respectively – to kill the demons in each one of those births.

The Mahabharata says that after Arjuna’s marriage with Ulupi (the naga princess) he went to the various pilgrim centres in South India. Arjuna is said to have visited this temple and offered prayers to Ranganatha. There is a mandapa called Arjuna mandapa in the temple.

Sarangapani Temple

As per Hindu legend, the Vaishnava deity, Sarangapani, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, appeared for a sage Hemarishi, who performed penance in the bank of Potramarai tank. Once, sage Bhrigu wanted to meet Vishnu at his residence, the Ocean of Milk. The sage did not get the attention of Vishnu and in his anger, he kicked Vishnu on his chest. Lakshmi, who resides in Vishnu’s chest, got angered as Vishnu did not show his anger towards the sage. She left Vaikuntha and reached earth and took the form of Padmavati. Vishnu followed her and married her. Padmavati got her memories and was still angry with Vishnu. To avoid her anger, Vishnu resided in the underground chamber in the temple as Pathala Srinivasa. In the meanwhile, the sage Bhrigu sought his apology and requested Lakshmi to be born to him as Komalavalli in his next birth. The sage was born as Hemarishi and performed penance to attain Lakshmi as his daughter. Vishnu was pleased by the penance and he wished the sage to get Lakshmi as his daughter.

Lakshmi emerged from the Potramarai tank among thousand lotuses and was thus named Komalavalli (the one who emerged from lotus). Vishnu descended to earth as Aravamudhan in a chariot drawn by horses and elephants from his abode Vaikuntha. He stayed in the nearby Someswaran Temple to convince Lakshmi to marry him and the couple eventually got married. The name Sarangapani (“one who has the bow in his hand”) derives from the Sanskrit word Sharanga, the bow of Vishnu, and pani meaning hand.

Appakkudathaan Perumal Temple

As per Hindu legend, the king Ubhamanyu earned the wrath of sage Durvasar and lost all his physical strength. To get rid of the curse, he was asked to feed one lakh people every day. One day, Hindu god Vishnu disguised himself as an old man, appeared before the king and asked for a meal. The king went on donating and the old man consumed all the food prepared for the people. The king was shocked and bewildered at this strange act. The old man asked for a kudam (pot) of Neyyaappam (a sweatmeal), stating that only it can fulfill his hunger. The king fulfilled the wish and later realised that it was Vishnu who had appeared as the old man. The king was relieved of the sage’s curse by the blessings of Vishnu. Because of the legend, Vishnu is called “Appakkudathaan” in the temple.

It is believed that this temple is where sage Markandeya was liberated from his curse from Yama (god of death), who cursed Markandeya to die at 16 years old. The presiding deity is Ranganatha, who is believed to have crushed Indira’s (a celestial deity) pride. The place is called “Koviladi” because it is located downstream of the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple, which is referred as kovil in Vaishnava tradition. The temple is called as “Tiruppernagar” because the region was called “Per Nagar” during Chola times. The Alvars refer the place as “Tiruppernagar” in Nalayira Divya Prabandam, the Sri Vaishnava canon.

The temple has inscriptions from the 18th year of the reign of Aditya Chola. The recorded inscriptions in this temple are numbered 283, 300, 301 and 303 of 1901. As per Nammalvar, the temple was home to the Vedic scholars of the time. The inscriptions in the temple indicate donations given towards the building of the main hall.Koviladi was one of the focal points of fighting in the regions surrounding Tiruchirapalli during the Anglo-French war; there are no records on the contributions or damages caused by this war.

Thiru Indhaloor – Sri Parimala Ranganatha Perumal Temple, Mayavaram

Parimala Ranganathar Perumal Temples or Thiruindalur is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, located in Thiruvilandur of Mayiladuthurai, a town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars.

This temple is along Kaveri and is one of the Pancharanga Kshetram. This temple lies in the Tanjore district of TamilNadu. (Should cross the River Cauvery which is in the North direction to Mayuram town and the temple is in the Northeast direction to Mayuram.) or (By crossing the river Cauvery which is in the North side to the Mayuram town we cab reach this temple which is in the Northeastern direction to the town).

The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity with contributions at different times from Medieval Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire and Madurai Nayaks. The temple is enshrined within a granite wall and the complex contains all the shrines of the temple. The rajagopuram (the main gateway) has five tiers.

Parimala Ranganathar is believed to have appeared for Chandra, the moon god. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and twelve yearly festivals on its calendar. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Institutions Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The temple is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the district.

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