Trichy Temples- Pundareekaksha Perumal Koil, Tiruvellarai

Trichy is an important town in Tamil nadu and is situated on the banks of river Kaveri. Like any other Tamil Nadu towns, this town also abounds in temples and the famous land mark of this region is the famous Rock fort temple which you would be coming across in one of my posts soon. Trichy is around 100 miles from Madurai.This time I am taking you to an ancient temple and I was awe struck when I saw this temple. Each temple has some thing unique and here also I found something which was interesting and amazing,.read on.....

This temple dates back to a period older than Ramayana and is situated about 17 kms. from Trichy town and is one among the 108 divya deshams of Vishnu.

Tiruvellarai means white rock and this temple is situated on a white granite hill which is 100 feet high . The deity in this temple is known Pundareekaksha Perumal. In Tamil it means Chendamarai Kannan and its English translation would be God with Lotus Shaped eyes. The temple has a main tower , which is in an unfinished state, nevertheless looks grand and I would say it adds certain charm to the temple.This temple is surrounded by a 36 feet high wall and resembles a fort . The second tower leads us inside the temple and we were wonder struck by the colourful huge sculptures on the wall which were painted in bright shining colours.The Bali peetam here is a huge one and the third tower leads us into the inner prakaram of the temple. Here also, like the Varadarajar temple in Kanchi we have to climb a fleet of steps to reach the sanctum.There are two dwaras (doors) leading to this sanctum . One is called as Dakshinayana dwaram and the other is Uttarayana dwaram. The dakshinaya dwaram remains open from Aadi to Marghazi ( August to Jan Mid) so we entered through the Dakshinayan door . The other door remains open from ( Mid January- July) Thai -Aani. This is in accordance with the movement of the Sun's path.

The main deity is around 12 feet in height and has Sun and Moon on either side of the deity offering their services to him. Then Garuda and Adisesha ( The serpent God in a human form, as the main deity is in a standing posture) are also near the main deity. Markendeya Maharshi and Boodevi are sitting near His feet and is believed to have prayed here at this place. The Utsavar is also a beautiful idol along with his consort beside him . The female deity is the custodian of the temple.

The temple maintains beautiful garden outside and it is famous for its Swastika shaped tank on the Northen side of the temple. I was wonder struck by seeing this . This shape it seems is to give privacy for people, while having bath. But there is no water at present as some renovation work is in progress. This is also under the care of Archaeological Survey of India. There are many inscriptions in the temple and it also mentions about this unique pond which was built by one feudal Lord under Pallava kings. The temple gets very few pilgrims . The temple precincts are kept neat and clean.Outside prakaram has the Thayar Senkamala Valli , and Chakra Thazhwar sannidhi. It was really a great experience, felt as if travelled thousands of years back into a bygone era.

The temple was built by the Emperor Sibi who is supposed to belong to a generation four times earlier to that of Rama. The legend is that Emperor Sibi found a white boar and started chasing it and it hid into an ant hill. Markendeya Muni who was doing penance nearby asked the king to pour milk over the ant hill and discovered a huge idol of the Lord. The Pallava Kings and Hoysala kings have contributed a lot in the reconstruction of the temple.

How to reach- Trichy is well connected with rail, air and road. To reach the temple it is better to hire a cab as frequency of buses to Tiruvellarai is quite low. This temple is on the Trichy- Thuraiyur route.