Vaishnava · Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam
கும்பகோணம் சாரங்கபாணி கோயில்
Sarangapani (Aravamudhan) with Komalavalli Thayar
MarriageGeneral
The temple in short
- Deity
- Sarangapani (Aravamudhan) with Komalavalli Thayar
- Where
- Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu · 10.96N 79.38E
- Usual hours
- 6 am – 12.30 pm, 4 pm – 8.30 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Guru
- Visited for
- The chariot-shaped sanctum where the Perumal came down for Komalavalli. Vaikunta Ekadasi and the Chithirai festival are its days; visited for marriage.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana has it that Komalavalli, the daughter of the sage Hema, did penance in the lotus tank here to have Vishnu for a husband, and that the Perumal came down from Vaikuntam in a chariot to marry her.
The sanctum is built as that chariot. It has wheels at its base and horses and elephants drawn up in front, and the whole shrine is meant to be read as the vehicle he arrived in.
Nammazhwar is said to have been so taken by this Perumal that his hymn broke off in the middle of the word — Aravamudhe — and the name has stayed with the deity.
What is recorded
Documented history
Sarangapani is a Divya Desam and the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam. Tradition counts it with Srirangam and Tirupati among the principal Vaishnava temples of the south.
It has two doorways into the inner enclosure, and they are used in turn: one for the six months of the sun’s northward course and one for the six months of its southward course. That is unusual enough to be worth planning a visit around if you want to see a particular one open.
What there is to see
Description
The eastern gopuram is very tall and is the first thing seen from the Kumbakonam streets.
The chariot sanctum, with its stone wheels and horses, is the reason to come. Komalavalli Thayar has her own shrine.
The Potramarai tank lies beside the temple, and the Chakrapani temple, a short walk away, is usually taken with it.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
Vaikunta Ekadasi and the Margazhi recitations fill the temple. The Chithirai Brahmotsavam with the car is the largest street festival.
The Thai float festival on the tank and Purattasi Saturdays are the other days.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Thirukudanthai, Aravamudhan Temple
- Period
- Chola period, with later Nayak building
- Reaching it
- The temple is in Kumbakonam, about 1 km from the Adi Kumbeswarar temple and 2 km from the railway station.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
- Adi Kumbeswarar Temple 0 km · Saiva
- Airavatesvara Temple, Darasuram 2.5 km · Saiva
- Swamimalai Swaminatha Swamy Temple 5.5 km · Murugan
- Thiruvalanchuzhi Kapardeeswarar Temple 5.6 km · Ganapathi
- Thirunageswaram Naganathaswamy Temple 5.9 km · Saiva
- Patteeswaram Durgai Amman Temple 5.9 km · Sakta (Amman)
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
A contribution carries a name, so a reader knows whose account it came from. That is why it needs an account, and it is the only reason.
Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.