Thennangur Panduranga Swamy Temple
Thennangur Panduranga Swamy Temple is a famous Sri Vishnu Temple in Thennangur Village, Thiruvannamalai, Tamilnadu State. The temple was built with a combination of northern and southern architectural styles. The main temple resembles the Puri Jagannath temple in Orissa and the front gopurams are built in the Pallava architectural style. The temple structure resembles the Pandaripuram temple in Maharashtra too. The town is also known as the birthplace of the goddess Meenakshi. The presiding deity is Sri Panduranga in standing posture and his consort Rukmayee/Raghumayee.
The Panduranga idol was installed by Swami Haridas Giri, who had brought it from Pandharpur about 500 years ago. The main deity is made of Shaligrama and is twelve feet tall. Lord Pandurangan adorns King Madura’s Alankara on Sunday, a very simple Alankara on Thursday where you can see his divine feet, the Alankara with silver kavacha and ornaments on Friday and in the form of Lord Venkateswara on Saturday.
Near the main deity, an idol of Lord Varadharaja Swamy and his wives can be seen. Another rare element of this temple is the presence of a historical idol Achutharaya Perumal, which was brought from Tirumala Tirupathi.
Deities related to Sri Chakra are present in the temple they are Maha Shodasi, Sri Rajarajeshwari, Saraswathi Devi, Sri Lakshmi, Lord Brahma, Sri Vishnu, Rudra, Easwara, Lord Vinayaka, Bala, Annapoorani Devi, Ashwaruda, Rajamadhangi, Varahi, Prathyangira, Sarabeswara, Chakrathaazhwar, Brahmi, Yoga Narasimha Swamy, Agoramurthy, Vanadurga, Parasaraswathi, Medha Dakshinamurthy, Subramanya Swamy, Chandi Mahalakshmi, Goddess Maheswari, Gaumari, Vaishnavi Devi, Mahendri, Chamunda, Sri Mahalakshmi.
Nitya Kalyana Utsavam is performed every day between 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon on the weekdays and between 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Sundays. Devotees visit this temple in seek of the good alliance for marriage, for a blissful married life, and a boon for progeny.
The Lord appears on the fruit Alankara on Tamil New Year’s Day: Vishu Kani Utsav. On the day of Gokhulashtami, Vaishnava Muthangi Sevai is followed. The Lord appears in many beautiful forms like Rajagopala, Giridhari holding the hill of Govardhana, like Geethacharya, like Parthasarathy and Radhakrishna. It is said that the Lord played his flute under the Thamala tree (the temple sacred tree) in the Dwapara Yuga, which attracted Radha to him. It should be noted that this Thamala tree is carried towards the south. Dwarapalaka idols are made from Panchaloka, a mixture of five metals.
References:
Tamilnadu Tourism: Search results for thennangur (tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com)
Thennangur Panduranga Swamy Temple Timings, History (templesinindiainfo.com)
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