Vaduvur Sri Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple, Thiruvarur

Address

Vaduvur Sri Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple, Vaduvur – 609 502, Thiruvarur District Phone: +91 – 4367 – 267 110 / 225 398 Mobile: +91 – 94434 48834 / 98652 46471

Diety

Sri Kothanda Ramaswamy Amman: Sita

Introduction

Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu located at Vaduvur Village in Thiruvarur District of Tamilnadu. The Temple is also known as Dakshina Ayodhya. The Temple is situated at the banks of a Bird Sanctuary and close to a tributary of Cauvery. The main deity, Lord Rama is known for his enchanting and enigmatic beauty. The Temple is believed to be 1000 years old. It is believed Saraboji Raja installed the idol of Lord Rama and built this temple.

Puranic Significance

Story behind the conversion of Gopalan Temple to Kothanda Ramar Temple: Completing the forest life of 14 years, Lord Rama prepared himself for the return journey to Ayodhya. The sages of the forest requested Lord to stay with them forever. He promised them to fulfill their request the next day. Lord made an idol of him and simply placed it before his lodging then. The sages, who came to see Rama next morning lost themselves at the beauty of the idol and desired to have it for themselves. Rama, as if he knew nothing about the idol, asked the sages that they liked the idol more they liked him. Allured by the beauty of the idol, the sages said yes. Lord Rama gladly gave them their wish and returned to Ayodhya. The idol, after thousands of years reached the hands of the devotees in Thirukkannapuram. They also made other idols – Mother Sita, Lakshmana and Anjaneya. During foreign invasion, they hid the idols in a place called Thalai Gnayiru. Years rolled by and it was the time when Saraboji King ruled Thanjavur. One day, Lord Rama appeared in the king’s dream and told him to unearth the deities from Thalai Gnayiru. He asked the king to establish and worship the deities. The king awoke and proceeded immediately, with his entourage, to Thalai Gnayiru and unearthed the deities. When the king and his entourage were preparing to leave, the natives of the place prevented the king from taking the deities. The king managed to convince them and as compensation left the deities of Baratha and Lakshmana behind with them. He took possession of Rama, Seetha and Hanuman statues and on his way rested at Vaduvur. The people of the village (known for their unity) came to know about the idols and pleaded with the king to establish the deities in their Rukmani-Sathyabhama samedha Gopalan temple. Initially, the king refused but when the villagers threatened to jump from the tower of the temple and commit suicide, he relented. He allowed them to establish the idols and since then Rama has been the main deity in the Gopalan temple. Later, the deity of Lakshmana was also sculpted by the people of Vaduvur. It appeared like a woman and so the villagers established it as Sundari Amman and built a separate temple for her. They sculpted another deity of Lakshmana and today Rama with Seetha and Lakshmana stand majestically to bless the devotees at this temple. Vakulaaranya Kshetram: This is one of the Abhimana Kshetram of Lord Vishnu and is also called as Vakulaaranya Kshetram. People worshipped Lord Vishnu here: It is said Kanva Maharishi worshipped in this temple and was blessed with the darshan of Kodandarama. Likewise, Kulasekara Perumal also was blessed with the Lord’s darshan.

Beliefs

It is the belief that devotees praying to Lord Rama, they will have children obeying their fathers. Besides traditional Abhishek and offering of Vastras, devotees also arrange procession of the Lord, offer Tulsi garlands, offer lamps to the temple, arrange feeding (annadhanam) and contribute to the renovation and maintenance of the temple suiting to their affordability.

Special Features

This Temple was originally (Raja) Gopalan temple. Gopalan is seen facing South with Rukmini, Satyabhama and Shengamala Thaayar. It is said that he was in the sanctum sanctorum before Rama idol was installed there. Later it got converted to Kothanda Ramar Temple. Lord Rama with Mother Sita, Lakshmana and Anjaneya bless the devotees from the sanctum sanctorum. Lord is wearing Mahalakshmi pendent and Salagrama garland. There is also a separate North Facing Sannidhi for Hayagriva. Lord Vishwaksenar, Andal and Azhwars are in the prakara. Sarayu Theertham is located outside the temple. Sthala Theertham is Rama Theertham. The Vimana above the sanctum is called Pushpaka Vimana. The other holy names for Vaduvur are Vakulaaranya (magizhankadu), Bhaskara Kshetram and Dhakshina Ayodhya. Vagula maram (Magizham tree) is the sacred tree of this place.

Festivals

Devotees perform Tirumanjanam to Lord on the Punarvasu Star day – His birth star. He comes in procession in the evening with Mother Sita. The temple celebrates 10 day Brahmmotsavam in Panguni – March April – following Sri Rama Navami. Wedding festival is celebrated on the seventh day and the car festival on the ninth day. Lord appears as Andal on the 5th day. Lord grants darshan to devotees on Garuda on Akshaya Tritiya day. Major festivals celebrated here; • Rama Navami- Brahmotsavam (Panguni) • Karthigai 7 day Pavitrotsavam • Puratasi Desigan • Hayagriva Utsavam • Vaikasi – Vasantha Utsavam for Gopalan