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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Thenkasi, Kasi Viswanathar temple- Tirunelveli disrict - Tamil Nadu

 If Benares is Kasi of North , it is Tenkasi,   Kasi of South where Lord Siva resides to bless His devotees on the banks of river Chitraru. Worshipping Lord here is considered to be equal to that of worshipping him in Benares.

This temple has a  magnificent  tower that stands 180 feet tall and is visible from kilometres away. This temple is in Tiruvenlveli district of Tamilnadu and is 5 kms from the tourist spot Coutrallam which is famous for its waterfalls having medicinal properties.

The huge coutryard in front of the temple has lush green grass and in the background of the temple we see the Podighai hills full of herbs and medicinal plants. A  mandapam, leads one inside the main temple. Inside the sanctum resides the main deity Kasi Viswanathar , a huge  Sivalingam of exceptional grace and beauty.This is a swayambhu Lingam. The well decked up Lingam  would mesmerise any one . It is total surrender we feel when we are in front of  the Lord of the Universe.  The tranquillity inside renders supreme happiness. Siva's consort  here is known as Ulgammal. The Amman shrine is to the left of the Siva's shrine. There are shrines for Vinayagar and  for Subramanya in the inner prakaram of the temple. Each pillar is adorned with excellent sculptures of Gods and Godesses and of Pandya kings who were patrons of the temple.

The legend is that a Pandya king wished to go the North Kasi to worship Siva there. But Lord appeared to him in his dream and asked him to build a temple to avoid the long journey . He was advised to follow a group of ants and next day he did so and found a swayambhulingam . It is believed that this is the Lingam what we see in the temple now.

How to reach
Tirunelveli is the biggest rail head nearby own nearby which has good  hotel facilities. Tenkasi also has a railway station. This is a small town and is at a distance  of 50 kms. from Tirunelveli.

 Pictures in this link
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPO5XlJLcxmeQPGAgpF7-BDptAGIlJGPu2pPUCr





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25 comments:

  1. R. RameshMarch 7, 2012 at 9:12 PM

    another gr8 post..congrats chitraji:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. chitraMarch 7, 2012 at 9:32 PM

    Thanks You Rameshji...

    ReplyDelete
  3. MridulaMarch 7, 2012 at 9:52 PM

    Lovely pictures Chitra liked the third one a lot and also the close up of the idols.

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  4. chitraMarch 7, 2012 at 9:57 PM

    Thanks a lot Mridula.

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  5. BhagyashreeMarch 8, 2012 at 10:32 AM

    The carvings are amazing. Whenever I see a temple I am amazed at the skill of our artisans. Wonderful. Do you know Venkatraman temple of Mangalore has been renovated, You should see it know, its awesome

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  6. chitraMarch 8, 2012 at 12:14 PM

    Bhagya,
    I visited Venkataramana temple exactly 2 years ago. I am going to Goa this month end via Mlore.. If possible would love to visit the temple again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MartinaMarch 8, 2012 at 10:14 PM

    Hi Chitra - and thanks for visiting! I was so busy lately i didn't blog so much as usual. I hope you are well and arew having a great time. Loveliy images here, as usual!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Abhilash PillaiMarch 10, 2012 at 2:15 PM

    Hi Chitra,

    Swami sharanam!
    Tenkashi... heard about it but did not know that it has such a history. Now the question is how I heard about this... tenkashi pattanam... remember? :)

    The pics are good. Thanks for sharing it.

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  9. Oh my Dior!March 12, 2012 at 11:50 AM

    that is a beautiful video!!

    http://www.ohmydior.org/

    ReplyDelete
  10. chitraMarch 12, 2012 at 2:15 PM

    Thanks Martina for the visit and comment.

    ReplyDelete
  11. chitraMarch 12, 2012 at 2:16 PM

    Abhi, athe..thenkasi thanne...It's is near Coutrallam...a place frequented by Kerala tourists..

    ReplyDelete
  12. chitraMarch 12, 2012 at 7:04 PM

    OMD, thanks you so much...

    ReplyDelete
  13. P.N. SubramanianMarch 14, 2012 at 12:45 PM

    Amazing!. I am intrigued as to why many of the temples have very large areas around them with a high protecting walls. I need to station myself in Thirunelveli next time.

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  14. chitraMarch 14, 2012 at 3:16 PM

    Most of the temples are like forts.May be it is sort of protecting the precious monuments and its valuable items. I am sure you'll enjoy T'vly visit ,there are numerous temples around. You can enjoy Coutrallam too.

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  15. StarTraciMarch 15, 2012 at 1:55 AM

    The courtyard sounds lovely and I love the story about following the ants. Thanks for sharing (I'm glad to see you back on-line!)

    :-)
    Traci

    ReplyDelete
  16. chitraMarch 15, 2012 at 6:46 AM

    Thanks Traci, I am also very hapy. trying my beast to be active and enjoying it too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Felicity Grace TerryMarch 16, 2012 at 9:15 PM

    How did I manage to miss this post? The figures adorning the building are simply wonderful, if I were ever to visit here I'm sure I could spend the day just marvelling at them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. chitraMarch 17, 2012 at 12:59 PM

    PW,thanks. Happy you could land now.

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  19. smMarch 19, 2012 at 1:20 AM

    kashi of south
    beautiful pics

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  20. AnyaMarch 20, 2012 at 12:35 PM

    Love it..
    thanks for sharing :)

    hugs Kareltje =^.^= Betsie >^.^<

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  21. chitraMarch 20, 2012 at 12:51 PM

    sm
    thanks .

    ReplyDelete
  22. chitraMarch 20, 2012 at 12:52 PM

    Anya, I was thinking about you and as we didn't meet each other for a long time. I am happy to see you.

    ReplyDelete
  23. sushmithaSeptember 1, 2012 at 12:54 PM

    Thanks for sharing :)

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  24. RamasudhaOctober 28, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    Superb pictures.Its an amazing temple like Rameswaram & Madhura Meenakshi

    ReplyDelete
  25. ChitraNovember 4, 2012 at 12:24 PM

    Thanks Ramasudha..it's indeed.

    ReplyDelete

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