13-Nov-10
We took the Saturday Morning Shatabdhi Express from Chennai to Mysore. The train reached Mysore around 1.30 pm and we had already organized for a car to pick us from the Station.
Our Journey started towards Talakad, where we can have the Darshan of Sri Keerthi Narayana Swami Temple and we reached Talakad around 2.45 pm. Took bath in the Holy Cauvery and then went to the temple. Unfortunately the temple was locked and they have performed Balalayam. The priest was also not there. So we spent some time around the temple and had started our Journey towards Sathyagalam. Talakad is visited by Swami Sri Ramanujar during his stay at Karnataka.
Sathyagalam is located in a place called Shivanasamudram near Kollegal. It’s around 70 kms from Mysore. This is where Sri Vedantha Desikar stayed during the Kalabam @ Srirangam. There is a temple for Sri Varadharaja Swamy known as Kote Varadharaja Perumal. This temple was recently renovated and had Samprokashanam few months back.
One can find the Utsavar of Desikar in a standing posture. This is unique about this sthalam. It is said that he was eagerly looking towards Srirangam to return back. Kalabam is the period where Srirangam was invaded by the Mughals, So many Sri vasihnavites lost their lives during this invasion. It was Swamy Desikan who started from Srirangam with the literary works and Swamy Pillailokacharya who carried the Namperumal idol.
They were actually celebrating the Thirunakshatram of Desikar and we were fortunate to have the Darshan of Sri Parakala Mutt Jeer. The people at the temple were so friendly and had asked us to stay there overnight to be there tomorrow to see the Celebrations scheduled on the 14th’Nov’10. But our schedule didn’t allow us to do so. We started to Madhyarangam, which is few minutes away from Sathyagalam.
Madhyarangam has a nice temple for Sri Renganatha Swamy. Kaveri first spilts into two behind Sri Rangapatnam and the temple is called as Adhi Rangam, after the temple it connects before Mandhyarangam and get split into two and again it gets connected at Mookombu near Trichy and gets split into two and from there they directly join the Ocean. So Srirangaptana is called as Adhirangam, this place is called as Madhyarangam and Srirangam is known as Anthyarangam.
It was around 7.30 pm when we reached Madhyarangam and the temple was closed. We approached the priest who is staying few feet away from the temple and he was there in the temple in another 15 minutes with the thaligai . We were so blessed to have the Darshan of Sri Ranganatha Swamy. The temple has a separate sannathi for Sri Ranganayaki Thaayar, however we didn’t had an Opportunity to visit the thaayar as it was too dark and there was no power supply available.
We started back to Mysore and reached Mysore around 10 pm.
14-Nov-10
We started towards Srirangapatna @ 8 am and reached there by 8.30 am. We had bath in the Holy River and had a great Darshanam of Sri Ranganatha Swamy and from there we started towards Melkote. Immediately after you take a diversion on the mainroad towards Pandavapura, you can find the birth place of Sri Ananthalwar. The temple would be open from 10:30 am till 2 pm. This was recently constructed and is a beautiful place to spend time. It has a very calm atmosphere and has a theertham called Sri Parasarar Sri Pada Theertham. The Main deity here is Thirumalaiappan with Sri & Bhu Devi Thaayar and we have Udayavar, Madurakavi Alwar and Sri Ananthalwar here in the Sannathi.
After this we directly started towards Thondanur, which is locally known as Thonnur Kere. This is the place where Swami Ramanuja landed in Karnataka and had lived for many years. We directly went to the Great & Huge Thondanur Lake, which was built by Ramanujacharya. Had a holy dip and then started towards Sri Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple.
Narasimha Swamy temple Is said to be built by Prahaladhan and this si the place where Ramanujacharya cured the daughter of Kind Biddhi Deva from Bhramaratchasa and got converted into Vaishanvism. You can find an Olaipetti used by Ramanujacharya here in this temple. Also he is found in the form of Adishesha.
A few feets away we can see the temple of Thondanur Sri Nambi Narayana Swamy. This temple is in a very sad situation and I feel really sad every time I see this temple. They don’t even have funds for lighting the lamps. The Archakar does the Thiruvaradhanam once in a day and they offer the food made for them first to the lord.
The Moolavar here is Sri Nambi Narayana. He looks amazing with the Conch & discuss interchanged on his hands. He was said to have done Samasryanam to Thondanur Nambigal. Thondanur Nambi is one of the Great Acharya who offered Shelter to our Ramanujacharya. It’s really sad to see this place in a sad condition. There is no Thirumanjanam to Perumal & Thaayar. In most of the Karnataka Vaishnavite temples Thaayar is seen on the Left of Perumal. But here Aravinda Valli Thaayar is on the right side of Perumal.
When we come out of the temple just few feet away there is a temple for Sri Venugopala Swamy. The Moolavar is Sri Parthasarathy Swami in Iruntha Thirukolam with Rukmani & Sathyabama. Utsavar here is beautiful. Sri Venugopalan with Rukmani & Sathyabama. He is in a stage called Tribangam, which is a posture in Bharatanatya. The specialiy here is that his left legs are in the front and the right leg is behind.
After this we started towards Thirunarayanapuram alias Melkote, which is another 17 kms drive from here. We reached Melkote around 5.45 pm. When we entered the place, the incharge at the toll gate informed that the Rajamudi has arrived from the Mandya Treasury. The reason behind this trip was to attend the Rajamudi Utsavam @ Melkote and this was our final destination of our 2 days trip. So we directly went to the Cheluva Narayana Swamy Temple. Had Darshan of Cheluva Narayana Swamy and then when we coming out there was a purappadu of Sampathkumarar with Udayavar. Actually they were also celebrating the final day function of Swami Pillailokacharyar. We had Darshan of the Purappadu and immediately started to the Narasimha Swamy Temple @ Melkote.
We had good Darshan and started walking down. When we reached the main temple, Satrumurai was going on. They were reciting Thiruvaimozhi. Around 9 pm this got over and we had Theertham, Satari & Prasadam.
After this we visited Sri Manavala Mamunigal Sannathi, which is outside the main temple. Had a great Darshan and came back to the main temple, within few minutes, sri Chellapillai came out on procession with the Rajamudi, which was said to be presented to the temple by the Mysore King, Krishna Raja Wodayar. After the beautiful Darshan we started back to Chennai. We had our Trains booked from Mandya to Bangalore and then we took the Shathabhi Express from Bangalore to Chennai and reached Chennai around 11 am.
This 2 day trip was memorable and it was great to visit the temples of 2 Great Acharya’s who were involved in protecting the Great Nidhi of Srivaishnavam , SRIRANGAM NAMPERUMAL & SRI PADHUKA SAHASRAM. I felt blessed during this trip.
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