Sowmya Narayana Perumal temple in Tirukoshtiyur is in Sivagangai district and is 10 Kms from Tirupathur town, on Madurai Karaikudi road. This is one of the 108 divyadeshams of Vishnu and I would say this was the most adventurous trip to a temple I ever undertook as I climbed the Vimanam ( tower) of the temple.
The temple is situated in a serene village and a huge tower welcomes us inside the temple. The uniqueness of this temple is, there are 3 tiers in the main Vimanam above the sanctum and and each tier houses a deity, the main one being on the first floor.
This is a rock cut temple and here we can see the blend of Vaishanavism and Saivism .At the entrance there is a separate shrine for Siva with Nandi mandapam in front. As we enter the Perumal temple, there is a small shrine for Vinayagar , On the ground floor there is a beautifully carved statue of dancing Krishna with Rukmani and Satyabhama. There are many idols of Azhwars (Vaishnavite saints) in this prakaram. Turning left, climbing a few steps one would reach the Sowmya Narayana Perumal's sanctum. The Moolavar ( the main deity) is Vishnu in Anantha Sayanam known as Ugramellanaiyan and along with him are Boodevi and Sreedevi. The Utsavar is Sowmaya Narayana Perumal with his consorts and there are also idols of dancing Krishna, Chakrathazhwar, Ramanujar and Nambigal. On the ground floor is the shrine of the Thayar , known here as Thirumamagal
. From the Thayar sannidhi there are a fleet of steps which takes one to the top of the Vimanam .
A trip up the vimanam is adventurous , scary and cannot be accessed without the help of a guide as the maze like formation may make one feel dis -oriented. The width of the narrow rock- cut staircase is just about 21/2 feet. Lack of air, the dark interiors , frequent twist and turns in the steep staircase without railings does create panic. At times one has to bend double as the ceiling is too low. At one point it was just a hole through which we had crawl to get on to the terrace.
On the 2 nd floor is the sannidhi of the Upendra Narayana with his consorts and here the Lord is in a standing position . There are beautiful murals on the walls of this temple and it is believed to be one thousand years old . Above this sanctum is another sannidhi of Paravasudevan with his consorts (All different names of Vishnu) . From the terrace of the Vimanam we could see the house of Sri Tirukoshtiyur Nambigal who was the Guru of Ramanujana, God's devotee and a great Vaishnava saint. It is believed that Ramanujam gave the
Mantropadesham of
Om Namo Narayana to all his disciples from this place. It is also said that from the top of the vimanam one could also watch the Meenakshi Kovil's tower at Madurai which is 70 Kms. away.
Outside, when we circumambulate there are shrines for Emperumanar ,Chakrathazhwar, Nambigal, all Vaishnava saints.
Facing the west we could see two huge idols of Narasimha Moorthy fighting Hiranya Kashipu and tearing him by putting him on his lap ( photos included). The Vimanam is ashtanga vimanam. Similar Vimanams are in Madurai , Koodal azhagar temple and other one in Chengalpet near Chennai .
The legend is that this was the place of Kadamba Maharshi's ashram and he was being tormented by Hiranya Kashipu.To find a solution to this, all the rishis and devas assembled in Goshti ( group ) and hence this place came to be known as Tiru Koshtiyur. Here only the Prahlada charithram and slaying of Hirnyakashipu was planned. It is also believed that Vishnu gave the Anantha sayana darshanam to Lord Indra here and the Sowmaya Narayana Perumal who is also known as Madhavan was given to Kadamba Maharishi by Lord Indra.
How to reach- Karaikudi is the nearest town which is 20-25 Kms. The nearest airport is at Madurai.Karaikudi is well connected with road and rail .
Accommodation: Good hotels are available in town of Karaikudi .
For other temples near Karaikudi click
here
PHOTOS
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMW5-teyko4ptuC1BooJ5DfNI66ZBPB18s9qJ5h
