Saturday, June 18, 2011

Appakudathan temple- Tiru Koviladi, Tamil Nadu

8 th divya desam Of Vishnu
The temple is situated in a tiny village of Koviladi on the banks of river Kaveri. The Moolavar , in a reclining pose is known as Appa Kudathan and  here we find Markendaya muni near the Lord.  This temple is considered to be older than Srirangam temple.  There is a huge silver pot , the appa kudam  (A  sweet made of rice) near the Lord's right hand and it is believed to be full of appam as this Lord is fond of the same.

The Utsavar here is known as Azhagiya Manvalan , Namperumal and Appala Rangan.. He is flanked by Boodevi and Sree devi thayar.There is also a Santhana Gopala here and  the belief is that a childless couple would be blessed with progeny if they offer their worship to the Lord here.

Legend is  that a king was cursed by sage Dhurvasa when he accidently killed a Brahmin during a hunting expedition. To get liberation he was asked to feed 1000 hungry Brahmins. During the feast the Lord Srinivasa, disguised as a Brahmin consumed all the food meant for the 1000 people. Not satisfied with that, Lord asked the king to feed Him a pot of Appam ( sweet) The moment he ate the appam the king was liberated.  Since then he came to be called as Appa Kudathan and here for daily Pooja appam is offered to the Lord.

The temple was in a dilapidated stage when I visited and the renovation work was in progress. Very few people visit this temple  but the sanctum dazzles with all its brightness as it houses the Lord and his family.The priest Srinivasa Bhattar enthusiastically explained about the history and legend connected with the temple. As it is erroneously reported in many sites that the Lord is holding the appa kudam in his right hand. he specifically asked me to write clearly that the kudam is 2 feet away from the moolavar.
Kamalavalli thayar has a separate sannidhi here.
This is one of the  Pancha Ranga Kshetrams Others are  at Srirangam,  Kumbakonam,  Tiru Indalur in Tamilnadu and  Sri Ranga Patinam near Mysore in Karnataka

The temple timings are 7.30 am to 1 pm., 4.30pm -8.15p.m

To reach Koviladi, one can take Tiruchi- Kallanai- Tirukattuppalli route. It's located 25 Kms east of Trichy.
Buses ply from Tiruchi central and Chathiram bus stand with a frequency of 1/2 hr,.
Cabs charge around Rs. 400 for the up and down trip from Trichi to Koviladi.
Accommodation - Good hotels are available in Trichy.

PHOTOS
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMfZVTMwRYlEF88cptTyqjO6xmvCpV6huNLrT6s








48 comments:

Mridula said...

Lovely pictures as usual Chitra.

AS said...

visiting a temple is so calming and such a nice experience :)

chitra said...

Mridula, thanks

chitra said...

AS
Welcome and thanks for the comment.

Martina said...

Happy weekend Chitra! For some reasons, i can't see your pictures today, but will try again tommorrow!

KParthasarathi said...

Chitra,you are a blessed person visiting so many kshetrams and sharing the highlights of the temple,the presiding diety and ample pictures.I have no words to express my thanks to you.Continue to do this laudable work

Sridharan said...

Beautiful.. Glad it is getting renovated. The frscos are colorful and wonderfully captured..!

EC said...

Nice to see such temples being renovated..i feel everyone should concentrate on renovating and maintaining ancient temples rather than building a new one in every street

Anuradha Shankar said...

Heard of this place, though havent visited yet.. samhith will love it..he loves appams. on our last trip south, he feasted on them everywhere we went!

chitra said...

Martina, Happy weekend for you too. thanks for the visit. I am sorry, you could not see the pics.

chitra said...

KP, thanks a lot.

chitra said...

Sridharan,
Yes, the paintings are really beautiful , I think they made with natural dyes.

chitra said...

EC, you are absolutely right. Some temples are really in a poor state.

chitra said...

Anu, You must visit this during your next visit to Trichy.
If Samhith likes appam , you must visit this temple in the evening. It is offered during the evening worship.

Bhagyashree said...

Loved reading the story behind the temples and mighty pleased to see the renovations.

Asha said...

Lovely photos chitra!have to show this blog to my mil who has visited almost all the temples of india , particularly the thanjavur trichy region.

The temple frescos look more like mysore style of painting. beautiful!! And i like the pasi padincha (fungal)walls

Teamgsquare said...

Awesome temple.

chitra said...

Bhagya,
Thanks.
Asha, Your Mil would have seen this too.

TGS, thanks a lot.

Reflections... said...

Sorry Chitra,
I have a lot of work to finish, so am not ble to keep up with your posts.

Thanks for this very important temple's description. I like the painted figures.

That's me - Archana!

Anonymous said...

beautiful awesome loved watching the pic's

Thank for sharing

Bikram's

Ms.Chitchat said...

A million thanks to u for having make us see such a beautiful temple and loved ur elaborate description of the presiding deities there. Please continue this divine work. Thanks for sharing.

chitra said...

Archana, I understand. you can peep in whenever you are free:). i look for your additions here.

chitra said...

Bikram, thanks
Ms.Chitchat
thanks a lot.

Arti said...

Very Beautiful and a divine experience as usual...The temple looks calm and quiet, Good to see the renovation work going on :)

R. Ramesh said...

thanks yar..u r such a good friend..

chitra said...

Arti, thanks.
Ramesh-:))

aipi said...

A beautiful place ~ thanks for the virtual tour!
US Masala

chitra said...

aipi, thanks a bunch.

Sushma Mallya said...

Lovely photos as usual Chitra...very good post!

chitra said...

Sushma, thanks.

Felicity Grace Terry said...

What a wonderful legend, I so enjoyed your telling of it. This temple does not look as well kept as many you have shown - I like that it is a bit rough around the edges as it looks well used.

Amrit said...

Good legend. Cannot say picture are lovely..renovation every where. :))) But post is good...you did not have any control over subject of the pictures

raji said...

This temple looks pretty ancient!nice legend behind it.I liked the name "appa kudathan".You visit almost all the temples ,even though u have not heard much about it ha..pretty interesting!god bless u

chitra said...

PW,
Now the temple, after renovation is looking better but it must be maintained well.

chitra said...

A,
Yes,the temple was almost in ruins,even the precincts of the temple was in bad shape.Upkeep is zero.

chitra said...

Raji, thanks.

sm said...

beautiful pics
thanks for the story

chitra said...

sm, thanks.

Urmi said...

Very beautiful temple. I was not aware of this place. Shall visit definitely during my next India trip.

chitra said...

Thanks Babli.I am sure you would like as it is renovated now.

? said...

Have not been able to keep up with the blogs I follow due to work, and travel in the past few months... and I missed this post.
I fervently hope that they keep the character of this temple while renovating. It is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

pls give contact no of the temple.give more details the spl offering in this temple RAM

NARAYANAN SRINIVASAN said...

I visisted Appkudathan last week end. Temple is still in dilapidated condition. Bhattar as mentioned was very enthusiastic and hard to find a person who is performing his duties more for devotion than for the gains from it.

chitra said...

Thanks Narayanan
The priest was very enthusiastic and gave a full description about the temple. But I read somewhere that the temple got renovated.

SURYA THE BOSS said...

I currently live and study in trichy.....this place is just 25 km from my area.......this place also comes in the great novelist Saandilyan's Raja Berigai Tamil novel....thanks chitra

chitra said...

Very nice you are in Trichy..and this place is quite close by...you can visit this when you find time..Nice place indeed.

SHYAM said...

interesting blog. It would be great if you can provide more details about it. Thanks you










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kash said...

thanks for the useful information.