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
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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