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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00110 Jun 2004

 
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Dear Mr. Parthasarthy,

Your work really needs appreciation sir. 
Similarly, there are 3-4 very old temples which has its rich heritage & history 
beyond 1000-5000years.
For those who are new to Melkote, I have attached some write-up ( copied from 
the internet) about Melkote temple and the temples in the nearby Thondanur 
where Sri Gopalakrishnaswamy temple and Sri Nambi Narayana Swamy temples are 
located opposite to each other. There is also a temple of Sri Yoga Narashima 
swamy along with Sri Ramanajar swamy in Shesha avatar. 

There is only one priest Sri Raghuram Bhat who shuttles between Sri 
Gopalakrishnaswamy temple and the Yoga Narashima swamy temple which is on the 
nearby hillock. And there is another single priest named Sri K S Seshadri 
Archakar.We understand that even for nitya Pooja there is severe shortage of 
money. I also understand that the Endowment board that is supposed to maintain 
these ancient temples gives only Indian ruppees eighteen only per month for the 
daily expenditure for these temples where great sages like Ramanujacharaya have 
performed poojas. These priests also are not paid monthly salary from the Govt. 
They have to depend only on the money that devotees put in the arathi plate. 

Now these temples are in a very pathetic condition for want for good 
administrators like you who can generate funds to bring back the glory these 
temples had long long ago. Even though these temples are very huge and big from 
outside, when you go in one will surely feel very bad why we Hindus donot know 
how to maintain and protect our dieties and temples.

Like the work you are doing for this temple in tamilnadu. i also request your 
kindselves to do something for these temples also. Somebody Pl help. Pl help Pl 
help.Especially the significant temples like Yoga Narashima temple on the 
hillock where its said that Ramanujar had a debate with 1000+strong Jain monks 
and won over them and also converted them to vaishnavas. One has to visit 
Melukote and Thondanur to see this and experience this in person.

      Melkote
      Temples of Karnataka



      Melkote located  near Mysore in Karnataka houses an ancient shrine to 
Vishnu, worshipped as TiruNarayana. This shrine is known for its long standing 
association with the spiritual leader Ramanujacharya. Melkote is also known as 
Yadavagiri, yatistalam, Vedadri and Narayanadri.

      The presiding deity here (moolavar) is known by the name Tiru Narayana, 
while the processional image of Vishnu goes by the name Selva Pillai or Sampath 
Kumara. Vishnu's consort is known by the name Yadugiri Taayaar. The image of 
Selvappillai is housed in the Rangamandapa. There are shrines to Yadugiri 
Taayaar and Kalyani Nachiyaar. The temple tank is known by the name Kalyani 
theertham.

      Legend has it this image of Vishnu was held in worship by Bhrahma. It is 
believed that the festival image Sampatkumara was worshipped by Rama and his 
son Kusha; hence the name Ramapriya. Legend has it that Krishna installed this 
image here at Melkote.

      Melkote has two distinct temples. The Tirunarayana temple at the 
foothills and the hill temple to Yoga Narasimha. Legend has it that the Yoga 
Narasimha temple image was installed here by Prahlada.

      King Bittideva of Karnataka who embraced the Sri Vaishnava way of life 
and patronized the saint Ramanujacharya, assumed the name of Vishnuvardhana and 
built five shrines known as the Panchanarayana temples. It is believed that at 
that time the Narayanapura shrine was in ruins and that both the images of 
Tirunarayana and Sampathkumara were missing and that Ramanujacharya discovered 
the image of Tirunarayana in the midst of Tulasi shrubs on the Yadavagiri hill 
and installed it back in the temple.

      Legend has it that during the Muslim raids of South India, the festival 
image of Melkote was stolen and taken away and that Ramanujacharya restored it 
from the court of the ruler.  It is said that it  a muslim princess had gotten 
attached to the image of Selvappillai and that being unable to part with it, 
she followed the Acharya to Melkote and then merged into the shrine there. In 
honor of this, there is an image of Bibi Nachiyar here.

      This temple is known for its Vairamudi Sevai in the month of March-April, 
when the image of Selvappillai is adorned with a diamond crown and taken out in 
procession. It is traditional belief that this crown is not to be looked at 
when it is not worn by the festival image; hence each year, during the 
occasion, the officiating priest picks up the crown from its chest with his 
eyes blindfolded and then places it upon the head of the image of Selvappillai. 
Thousands congregate to celebrate this occasion each year.

      Such was the hospitality of the residents of Melkote that they were 
reluctant to let Ramanuja leave for Srirangam. Hence, Ramanujacharya made an 
image of himself and left it behind. It is to be noted that Ramanuja's body in 
its preserved state is maintained at Srirangam and that there is another image 
of Ramanuja at Sriperumpudoor near Chennai.



      A write up to explain about the origination of Sri Nambi Narayana Swamy 
temple:



Bitti Deva was the ruler of this place ( a Jain follower)

Ramanuja traveled eastward and came to Tondanur, the second capital of the 
Hoysala Empire. Bitti Deva (Vittala Devaraya) was the name of the Hoysala 
ruler. His daughter was suffering from a mental illness. Ramanuja by now had 
become famous as the man who cured the illness of the Chola princess. When the 
king sent for Ramanuja, he did not go at first. But when a 
disciple,Tondanurunambi, assured him that the Hoysala king was not a fanatical 
tyrant like the Chola king, Ramanuja agreed to go. He cured the illness of the 
princess, to the delight of the king. He was drawn to Ramanuja's faith and 
became a Srivaishnava. He then onwards came to be known as Vishnu- vardhana. In 
memory of this great event, the king built five Vaishnava temples 
Channiganarayana temple at Belur, Nambinarayana temple at Tondanur, 
Kirtinarayana temple at Talakad, Veeranarayana temple at Gadag and 
Chaluvanarayana temple at Melkote. These temples are lasting monuments of 
Karnataka culture and architecture. Ramanuja built many other temples too in 
Tondanur. He also got constructed a huge reservoir called 'Tirumalasagara'(now 
called Moti Talab

With Best Wishes & Regards
 
G. SATYA NARAYANAN

 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Parthasarathy Srinivasan" <chandraparthasarathy@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "LakshmiNarasimhan SrinivasaRaghavan" <lsriniva@xxxxxxxxxxx>; 
<srirangasri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <srivaishnavarajayam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; 
<srivenugopala@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Raghu Veeravalli" <vvraghuja@xxxxxxxxxxx>; 
"vijaya" <vijaya1989@xxxxxxxxx>; "With regards from Dr. Kilambi Ramakrishna" 
<kramakrishna@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <ramanujamission@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; 
<rangapriya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "sandeeplaks2002" <sandeeplaks2002@xxxxxxxxx>; 
<saranagathi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <sarathy1942@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "senkamalam44" 
<senkamalam44@xxxxxxxxx>; "Mandyam K Srinivasa" <msrinivasa@xxxxxxxxxxxx>; 
"Murali Srinivasan" <mambalammurali@xxxxxxxxx>; "raja lakshmi" 
<psree19662000@xxxxxxxxxxx>; "Sowmya Laxmi" <laxmisowmya@xxxxxxxxx>; "sudarshan 
madabushi" <mksudarshan2002@xxxxxxxxxxx>; <malolan_net@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; 
<nama_singapore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; 
<parakalamatham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "raghavan ramabadran" 
<raghavan_ram@xxxxxxxxxxx>; <andavan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Akkarakkani Bharadvaj" 
<akkarakkani_bharadvaj@xxxxxxxxx>; <desikasampradaya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Damana 
Krishna" <damanakrsnadas@xxxxxxxxx>; "Srikanth Krishnamurthy" 
<seethusri@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 17:26
Subject: [SriRangaSri] VILAKKOLI DHITTAM


> DEAR BAKTHAS,
>  
> ADIYEN IS GREATFUL TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED FOR ABOVE SCHEME.
> ADIYEN HAD DECIDED TO ADOPT THE TEMPLE OF SRI ANANDAVALLI SAMETHA 
> VAIKUNDAVASAR IN ARUMBULIYUR ON BANKS OF PALARU NEAR THIRUMUKKOODAL ENROUTE 
> CHINGLEPUT- KANCHIPURAM LINE.
> THE SAID TEMPLE WAS NOT OPEND FOR THE LAST NINE YEARS FOR NITHYA POOJA,  AN 
> ONE CAN IMAGINE THE CONDITION  OF THE TEMPLE TODAY.  TO RENOVATE, START THE 
> DAILY POOJA ALL THE VAISHNAVAITS ARE REQUESTED TO SEND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS 
> LIBERALY BY BANK DRAFT IN THE NAME OF PADMASHREE ANMIGA SEVAI( REGD ) A/C 
> VILAKKOLI DHITTAM, PAYABLE AT CHENNAI TO MS R. RAJALAKSHMI, 108, NEW STREET, 
> MANNADY, CHENNAI-600001.
>  
> DASAN,
> POIGAIADIAN
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we.
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




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