Vishnu Temples

Tirupathi

Shiva - Vaikom Mahadevar manifests himself as Dakshinamurthy in the panthirathi pooja in the morning. He is worshipped as Kiraata Murthy during the Uchi pooja at noon and as Satchitananda in the evening.

Tirupati / Tirumala is a pilgrimage center of great significance and is visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throughout the year. Venkateshwara, or Srinivasa or Balaji as the presiding deity Vishnu is known, is enshrined in this temple, located on a range of the Eastern Ghats, called the Seven Hills. It is an ancient temple and its glory has been sung by the saints of the yesteryears.

Said to be the richest temple in India, this temple is a vibrant cultural and philanthropic institution with a grand history spanning several centuries. It attracts pilgrims from all over the country and it is not unusual for pilgrims to stand in line for hours together to obtain a glimpse of the presiding deity for a few fleeting seconds.

Srirangam Temples

The district's most important pilgrim centre is located in an island just 7 kms from Trichy. Srirangam, surrounded by the waters of river Cauvery on one side and its tributary kollidam on the other, is a 600 acre island-town enclosed within the seven walls of the gigantic Sriranganathaswami Temple. Most of it dates from the 14th to 17th centuries, and many people have had a hand in its construction, including the Cheras, Pandyas, Cholas, Hoysalas and rulers from Vijayanagar. The largest Gopuram in the first wall on the southern side was completed as recently as 1987, and now measures 73m.

The main temple is dedicated to Vishnu. Even Muslims are said to have prayed here after the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire. Non-Hindus are not allowed into the gold - topped sanctum, but they are allowed into the sixth wall. The whole place is fascinating. Bazaars and Brahmins' houses fill the space between the outer four walls, and you don't have to take your shoes off or deposit your bicycle until you get to the fourth wall. Just past the shoe deposit is an information centre, where you buy the ticket to climb the wall for a panoramic view of the entire complex. A temple guide will unlock the gates and tell you what's what. It's worth engaging one of these guides as there is much to see and you could easily spend all day wandering around the complex. There's also a small museum containing sculptures.

An annual Car Festival is held here in January during which a decorated wooden chariot is pulled through the streets between various walls. In mid-December, the Vaikunda Ekadasi, or Paradise Festival will be celebrated in the Vishnu Temple.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple

This temple enshrines an imposing image of Vishnu, in the Anantasayanam posture; an image viewed through three doors in front of the shrine. The original image was of wood; the current image was fashioned out of 1200 saalagramams which were specially brought down for this purpose and moulded into shape with a special paste kadusarkara - a mixture of lime, granite, molasses and mustard. Vishnu is viewed through three doors in a row - the face on the southern side, the feet on the northern side and the nabhi (navel) in the middle. Padmanabha is enshrined in the yoganidhra posture, reclining on Adishesha - (making offerings of vilvam to a small Shivalingam, to his right).

The sanctum of this temple is fashioned in the style of the temples of Kerala, while the surrounding walls and the towers resemble that of the Tamil (Dravidian architecture) temples. Interesting murals adorn the outer walls of the sanctum. There are shrines to Narasimha, Hanuman and Krishna near the sanctum.

An interesting legend surrounds the origin of the imposing image. A Rishi by name Diva Kara Yogi, who was engaged in the worship of Vishnu, was enraged by the sight of a two year old toddler swallowing his Saalagramams, the object of his worship. The toddler, upon being chased by the yogi, entered a tree; the tree split, and Vishnu revealed he in all his splendour to the Rishi, who then requested him to assume a form that could be held in worship, upon which Vishnu assumed the form of the image, now held in worship in this temple.

Sri Krishna Temple - Guruvayur

Guruvayur is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in South India. It is well connected by rail and road to Thrissur and hence to the rest of the country. Guruvayur enshrines the youthful form of Krishna. This is a temple rich in legend, tradition and festivals.

Legend has it that Guru - the preceptor of Gods (Brihaspati) and Vaayu the wind God established this temple. Legend has it that this image was originally worshipped by Bhrama and gifted to Vishnu who retained it with him at Dwarka during his Krishnavataram. At the brink of destruction of Dwarka, Krishna instructed Uddhava to seek Vayu's and Guru's help to find a safe haven for the image. Accordingly Guru and Vayu installed this image at Guruvayur, on one side of a lotus lake, on the other side of which was a shrine to Shiva and Parvati.

It is believed that worshipping here relieves people of bodily ailments. Legend has it that Janamejaya; son of Parikshit was cured of leprosy upon installing the image of Krishna and worshipping here. Yet another legend has it that a Pandya King was cured of a snake bite while worshipping here.