Srivaikuntam
Srivaikuntam is famous for the temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu known as Srivaikuntapathiswami with a lofty gopuram. The Ekadasi Mandapam is probably the most craftily architectured portion of the temple with beautiful carvings of elephant and warriors showing off the architectural skills that people of that era possessed.
Try to visit the temple on Vaikuntha Ekadashi days when the Ekadasi Mandapam is open. You will see few of the most exceptional sculpture works that one ever witnesses. This also played an important part During the conflicting days of the East India company forces and Kattabomman. The temple served as a fort to the people and the local troops.
The Kailasanathaswamy temple is an another important one. It contains six inscriptions of the times of Veera Pandiya Kattabomman It is a beautiful temple with several beautiful paintings and carvings on the wall depicting incidences from the Puranas. There is a beautiful tank as well. There are a lot of mythological legends associated with this temple as well. It is believed that Lord Brahma chose this place on Earth for penance to recover the Vedas which had been stolen by the Asura named Somuka. 
Lord Vishnu was pleased and defeated the Asura to get back the Vedas. A milk abhisheka is done for him daily as it is believed that through a hole in the Earth, the milk reaches Lord Vishnu. A temple was built here by the king who ruled the place then. Another legend is that Lord Vaihunthanatha had taken the guise of a robber named Kaladutaka in a forest near Srivaikuntham. The robber was a good man in that he robbed the rich and gave the poor and was also a devotee of Lord Vishnu. The Lord had taken his disguise to protect him form the king’s wrath. The king on repenting for his sins constructed this temple for Lord Vaikunthanatha and became a good ruler.
No comments:
Post a Comment