Saturday, February 18, 2012

Kapisthlam- Gajendra Varadha Perumal

This  temple is the 22nd among the 108 divyadesams of Vishnu . Here the Moolvar is known as Aadi Moola Perumal and consorts are Pottramaryar thayar( Mother) and Remamani Thayar.  Utsavar is Gajendra Varadha Perumal, giving darshan with Sree devi Boodevi and Andal. There are separate shrines for Remamani Thayar and Andal. The main idol in the sanctum is in a reclining posture.

 The story of Gajendra Mokasham is depicted on the outside walls of the sanctum. This is believed to be the sacred place where elephant Gajendra, a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu was rescued by the Lord from the clutches of a crocodile. For details on this story click  here.

 Bali and sugreeva, also believed to have worshipped the God at this temple hence the name Kapi( monkey) sthalam.( place)

This temple is on Tiruvayyaru road 10kms from Kumbhakonam.

How to reach- Many buses ply from Tiruvayyaru and Kumbhakoam to this town.Kumbhakonam is the nearest railway station and the town has good accommodation facilities.
Temple timing 6-30 -12noon  



36 comments:

Bhagyashree said...

As usual lovely Chitra :D But I had a feeling that the temple is not being kept properly, am I right?

Mridula said...

Lovely pictures Chitra. It seems to be a cloudy day, looking at the skies.

KParthasarathi said...

Chitra,I missed seeing this temple when I was at Kumbakonam.Your posts reveal how much I have missed.You are fortunate and blessed to visit so many temples and share the details with excellent pictures.We are all beholden to you.

EC said...

Looks a bit renovated now...it was not in good shape when we went there..hope u got to cover all the other nearby divyadesams also in ur trip and had good darshan

FranE said...

You transport me into a world I will never see in life. Thank you for sharing.

Sridharan said...

Very nice pictures.. Chitra.!

Sridharan said...

Hey,, Just noticed the renovated blog.. Cool..!

chitra said...

Bhagya, You are right, there is hardly any visitors and income in these temple. They just mange with meagre grants. So not properly maintained.

chitra said...

Mridula, It was a bit cloudy and early morning time.

chitra said...

KP, I am happy to see your comment. thanks a lot.

chitra said...

EC,
I did visit quite a few. Still I feel, I need to make one more visit to cover a few missed out Chola divyadesams.

chitra said...

Frances, Happy for you. thanks for the visit.

chitra said...

Sridharan, thanks, thanks:))

sm said...

beautiful pictures

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Yet another wonderful post, it never fails to amaze me how colourful these places are. Thanks also for the link to the story of Gajendra, I'm away there now.

Arti said...

That story about the elephant and the crocodile is one of my favourites. The pics are fabulous as always. Many thanks for the wonderful post. Have a nice day.

chitra said...

PW, thank a lot.

chitra said...

Arti,
thanks a lot.My son used to enjoy that story a lot.

Insignia said...

As usual, one more new temple chitra. This temple will be overshadowed easily by other grand temples of Kumbhakonam for sure

P.N. Subramanian said...

Beautiful. Its really a pleasure to learn about the lesser known important shrines. Incidentally a small error in the title of the post has krept in. "Sthalm" needs correction.

Teamgsquare said...

Nice temple and nice pictures ......

chitra said...

Insignia, What you said is very true.The idol here also didn't have any rich silks and jewels. Looked like a poor cousin when compared to other temples.

chitra said...

Thanks PNS, Shall correct it. Everything is done in a hurry these days as power cuts are severe here.

chitra said...

TGS
thanks.

Sushma Mallya said...

Very beautifully explained chitra and beautifully captured pictures as well:)

sm said...

beautiful temple
nice pics

Jaggu said...

Hi Chitra,

It was nice to see the information. Actually I am also going through all the divya desams and seeing the possibility of visiting srivilluputhur when I go to India this time.

I have seen your post on that temple. How many days do you think is required to see that place.

I just wrote about the divya desams too in my previuos blog. Feel free to visit my blog.

chitra said...

Hi Jaggu,
You can access Sri Villiputhur from Madurai which has the nearest airport. From Madurai it would take just less than 2 hrs to reach the temple. You can finish visit in 1/2-1 hr or so.Only during festival it would be crowded. There are 2 diff. temples. One for the Lord and separate one for Andal. make sure you visit both.

ashok said...

Thanks for this lovely post Chitra

chitra said...

ashok
thanks a lot for the visit.

chitra said...

Sushma, sm thanks a lot.

StarTraci said...

Beautiful, as always!

xoxo
Traci

chitra said...

Thanks for the visit Traci.

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Felicity Grace Terry said...

Stopping by to say hello, I hope you are feeling better. x

chitra said...

thanks PW, sure I am better.