Thennangur Panduranga Temple – Thiruvannamalai

Address

Thennangur, Thiruvannamalai District,

Tamil Nadu- 604408

Phone: +91 – 4183 – 225 808

Moolavar

Panduranga

Amman

Ragumayee

Introduction

Panduranga Temple is dedicated to God Vishnu located at Thennangur Village in Thiruvannamalai District of Tamilnadu. The temple was built with a combination of northern & southern styles of architecture. The temple resembles the Puri Jagannath temple in Orissa and its front gopurams are constructed in the Pallava style of architecture. The temple follows both the Orthodox Sampradaya (tradition) of the South and the Bhajan Sampradaya of the North.

Puranic Significance

Avathara Sthalam of Madurai Meenakshi:

According to mythology, the goddess Meenakshi was found as a three-year-old child by the Pandya king here. To support this hypothesis, a temple was also built for Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar at Thennangur.

Gnananandagiri Swamigal & Shri Haridas Giri Swamigal: Thennangur Village was given rebirth when Shri Haridas Giri Swamigal, a chief disciple of Swami Gnanananda Giri, who decided on Dakshina Halasyam as the home for spreading Sanathana Dharma through Namasankeerthanam because he strongly believed that one can easily reach the feet of God through music.

Sadguru Sri Gnanananda Giri:

Gnananandagiri Swamigal was born at Mangalapuri near Gokarna on the west coast in Karnataka to an orthodox Brahmin couple. At his young age, he was driven to Pandharpur with an urge to know the self. It is in this historic place, that Swami was guided to meet his Guru, Swami Sivaratna Giri of Jyotirmutt, one of the four mutts established by His Holiness Sri Adisankaracharya himself. Swami Sivaratna Giri accepted this young boy as his disciple and swami then followed his Guru like a shadow and derived great delight in serving him. After Swami attained proficiency in Ashtanga Yoga, Hindu Scriptures, Upanishad truths etc., Swami was given holy order of Sanyasa by his Guru and was named ‘Sri Gnanananda Giri’ into the ‘Giri’ order of Jyotir Mutt. Later, after Mahasamadhi of his Guru, Swami adorned the Peetam of Jyotir Mutt for some time before relinquishing the same for undertaking intense penance at Himalayas. After long period of seclusion, swami travelled extensively on foot, spanning the whole of India, Tibet, Nepal, Burma and Srilanka. Finally swami is believed to have returned to Southern India and from around 1966, Swami permanently stayed at Tapovanam at Tirukkovilur, near Thiruvannamalai.

Beliefs

Prayer is the best path to reach God. Everyone can do the worship depending on their means and knowledge. The significance of the temple is the Nama Sankeerthanam principles followed in worships because Music takes the soul to God. Devotees pray for child boon. Devotees perform pujas to Lord and Mother with Vastras.

Special Features

The structure of the temple resembles the Pandaripuram temple in Maharashtra with Lord Panduranga accompanied by Mother Ragumayee blessing devotees. The temple was built by the disciple of His Holiness Gnanananda Swamigal, His Holiness Haridas Giri Swamigal. It is being administered by His Holiness Namanandagiri Swamigal presently. Lord Panduranga is majestically 12 feet tall made of Salagrama stone. He graces in a standing posture. Raghumayee nearby is adding beauty to beauty. Nearby, an idol of Lord Varadharaja and his consorts may be seen. Another rare element of this temple is the presence of a historical idol of Achutharaya Perumal, which was brought from Tirumala Tirupathi. Along with these idols, the golden idols worshiped by Swami Haridas Giri are present here. Lord Panduranga showers his blessing as a King of Mathura on Sundays, in a simple form showing his Lotus feet for the darshan of devotees on Thursdays, with silver coverings on Fridays & as Lord Venkatachalapathi on Saturday.

All the deities related to Sri Chakra worship are in this temple. It is especially noteworthy that all the deities related to Sri Chakra – Maha Shodasi, Rajarajeshwari, Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Brahmma, Vishnu, Rudra, Easwara, Vinayaka, Bala, Annapoorani, Ashwaruda, Rajamadhangi, Varahi, Prathyangira, Sarabeswara, Chakrathaazhwar, Brahmi, Yoga Narasimha, Agoramurthy, Vanadurga, Parasaraswathi, Medha Dakshinamurthy, Subramanya, Chandi Mahalakshmi, Maheswari, Gaumari, Vaishnavi, Mahendri, Chamunda, Mahalakshmi are in the temple in idol forms.

Lord appears in fruit Alankara on the Tamil New Year day-Vishu Kani Utsav. On the Gokhulashtami day, Vaishnava Muthangi Sevai is followed. Lord appears in many alluring forms as Rajagopala, Giridhari holding the Govardhana Hill, as Geethacharya, as Parthasarathy and Radhakrishna. It is said that Lord played his flute under the Thamala tree (the sacred tree of the temple) in Dwapara Yuga which drew Radha towards him. It is noteworthy that this Thamala tree is brought to South. Dwarapalaka idols are made of Panchaloka – a mixture of five metals.

The famous Sri Panduranga temple was built with a combination of northern and southern styles of architecture. The temple resembles the Puri Jagannath temple in Orissa and its front gopurams are constructed in the Pallava style of architecture. The Temple is believed to be 1000 years old.

Baghwan Garuda is occupying the centre space as a Gem. Lord Govindaraja Perumal enjoys and graces the Wedding festival in the mandapam as in Tirupathi except on Saturdays. The Brindavan of His Holiness Gnanananda Swamigal adds more sanctity to the temple.

A huge Namasankeerthanam Hall with all the Bhagavatha Saints with their images have been decorated beautifully and it is unique. This temple has a unique Art decoration, first of its kind in India, where mural forms are embedded on the walls and ceiling of Ardha Mantapam and Maha Mantapam specially conceived and erected by Sri Natanam, the renowned Mural Architect. It carries the message of Sage ‘Suka’ in its physical form. An auditorium to accommodate more than 1000 persons with a huge stage and attendant implements in completed to conduct external events, discourses and other like gatherings.

The temple follows both the Orthodox Sampradaya (tradition) of the South and the Bhajan Sampradaya of the North. The men before entering the sanctum sanctorum are supposed to remove their garments on the upper part of their bodies which is a temple regulation followed by one and all.

Festivals

The temple is famous for the Vishukani Utsav festival that falls on Tamil New Year’s Day. The Muthangi Sevai festival is celebrated on the day of Gokhulashtami that falls between August and September, when the Lord Krishna is decorated in various Alankarams (styles) as Rajagopala, GovindaGiridari holding the Govardhana hill, Parthasarathy and Child Krishna.

References

https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2017/02/panduranga-temple-thennangur.html