Manakkal Nambi Temple, Trichy

Address

Manakkal Village,

Trichy district,

Tamil Nadu 621703

Moolavar

Nambi

Introduction

Manakkal Nambi Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu located at Manakkal Village near Lalgudi Town in Trichy District of Tamilnadu. The village is the birthplace of Manakkal Nambi. There is a shrine for Manakkal Nambi in the Temple. The Temple is named after him. The Temple is located at about 300 meters Manakkal Bus Stop

Puranic Significance

Manakkal Nambikal was an important Vaishnavite Guru. His original name was Rama Misrar. He was born in this village, which is called as Manakkal in the 10th century CE. His Guru was Uyyakondar. After the demise of Uyyakondar’s wife, Rama Misrar took charge of attending the personal needs of his Guru and his two young daughters. One day, the young daughters of Uyyakondar, after taking bath in the river, had to cross the muddy way. Rama Misrar lied down forming himself as a human bridge. He made the young girls to cross over the path by walking on his back.

As the sandy footprints of the girls were found on his back, Rama Misrar was called as Manakkal Nambigal from that particular day onwards. The word Manakkal means sandy footprints. Uyyakondar entrusted the task of finding his Guru Nathamuni’s grandson to Manakkal Nambi. Manakkal Nambi traced Alavandar. Alavandar was leading a royal life. Manakkal Nambi met him, convinced him and turned him into spiritual path. Thus, due to the attempts of Manakkal Nambi, Alavandar; Yamunacharya came to Sri Rangam and he also became a Vaishnavite Guru in the future.

Special Features

The temple is very small. It does not have tower. The presiding deity of the temple is Varadarajar in standing posture. He has his two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi, on his either sides. The temple has simple layout. It has one prakara around the sanctum. The Utsava idols of Varadarajar and his consorts are also found in the sanctum. In the Maha mandapam, in a separate shrine, a lot of bronze idols are located. It includes the idols from the nearby Kailasanathar temple such as Nataraja, Sivakami, etc. In the Maha Mandapam, there is another sub-shrine which enshrines the idols of Vishwaksenar, Ramanuja and Lakshmi Narayana. Garuda is found facing towards the direction of the sanctum. Near Garuda, there is a shrine for Manakkal Nambi. Although the presiding deity of the temple is Varadarajar, people call the temple as Manakkal Nambigal Temple.

References

https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2018/04/manakkal-nambi-temple-manakkal-trichy.html