Other Sannidhis

To move on to the physical setting of the temple which abounds in small sannidhis, which , an archaka says, are all devoted to Alwars , who apart from the Lord Himself, are given priority here. So it is that every sannidhi has an Alwar and a deity installed.

As one enters the Ranga Ranga Gopuram, with heart full of devotion and a murmuring mind that keeps on telling you that “Beware, every Alwar has walked here “, one cannot but help FLINCH AT THE PLASTIC THAT FILLS THE SPACE HERE. Having said that ,I have to say a few words about the ever famous shop called Ranga Vilas that  is every woman’s joy. This shop sells quaint implements that were used well in the yesteryears but rarely now , even then I have always found women throng this shop. Things to look for are an implement called Aruval manai which helps cut veggies fast ,efficiently and into fine pieces., the sevai naazhi which makes fresh noodles to be eaten fresh too,the ompodi naazhi which makes Sev and much more attractive implements which have become almost extinct now except in a few households that believe in eating fresh .

As we enter the temple to our immediate right is the Koorathalwar sannidhi which is a temple by itself, it has a circumambulatory passage which allows one to go around paying ones obeisance .Koorathalwar it must be said here , sacrificed his eyes to safe guard Ramanujar’s life., and wrote the commentary ,for Ramnanujar, out of memory, in Kashmir.

The second right sannidhi is Thondaradi podi alwars , sannidhi, which also houses Madhurakavi alwar,.

The deities here are …Yoga Narasimhar,and Ashtabuja venugopalan

This sannidhi has no circumambulatory passage but does have a private garden called Nandavanam .

The immediate left has a cloakroom of sorts.

The next sannidhi ,a very important one is the Ull-Andal sannidhi. Just outside the Andal sannidhi I could see a man sitting at a table seling tickets.

Here I go ,and find that it costs  Rs 10 for one to be able to go up the crooked stairs and have a wonderful view of the entire Sriranga temple gopurams. Being rather disappointed that the way up and other places should be so unkempt, I nevertheless look around amazed at the vastness of the temple. It is nice to count the number of gopurams from here. I counted almost 21 visible from where I stood.

The Andal sannidhi is flanked by a beautiful temple which resembles a chariot but details of which no one was able to give me. Suffice it to say that it looked like a chariot temple. The Ull-Andal sannidhi has inside of it, a beautiful painting on one wall ,of Saint Ramanujar with his sishyal under him(.It is well  captioned “)  The Vaishnavaite scholar community are all here to see….

·        Kovil Kanthadai annan

·        Manavala Ma munigal

·        Vanamamalai jeer

·        Vengada narayana jeer

·        Bhattar piran jeer

·        Pradivadi Bayangara annan

·        Apullar

·        Appilai

Andal is resplendent in her wedding dress.

The moolavar is Ramar Seethai and Lskshman.

There is a small sannidhi on the side for Periyalwar and Ramanujar.

2^nd left sannidhi is Venugopala with his mother Yashodha.

A small Vishnu Durga is enclosed in the front of this sannidhi and is engraved in a pillar.

3^rd left sannidhi is the Amirtha kalasa Garudalwar. This again is a small temple premises on its own ,with two entrances, one facing north and one facing west both leading to the same Garudalwar. This sannidhi has a Nanadavanam which it shares with Sakkkarathalwar.

The story of Amirtha kalasam  makes interesting reading. It says on the board inside of the sannidhi …that…Garuda in order to save his mother from slavery, brought the amirtham to the Nagas on their demand. He instructed them to go and have their ritualistic bath and then partake  of the amirtham  .In the meantime, Indra,  God of Devas snatched the Amirtham and went away, leaving behind a bunch of Dharbai grass which had  covered the amirtham. The nagas disappointed with their fate, licked the grass hoping to eat some of the amirtham stuck on it. The dharbai grass blades being very razor sharp, cut their tongues into two and that is how the snakes have a split tongue….

So much for tales, Moving on to the next important sannidhi is the Chakrathalwar’s. I can say that, after Periya Perumal and Thayar, this is the most important sannidhi going by the crowds.

This is a sizeable koil of its own , but with a very ill kept garden where I could only see weeds grow ,but the saving grace is that we very often see peacocks dance here.

The thayar here is Vijayavalli just outside the sanctum.

As I mentioned before, there is a path  that is very well maintained that leads to the thayar sannidhi from here. It is well lit, well laid out and planted with trees on either side.

As  we come out of Sakkarathalwar  sannidhi we go  directly in the opposite direction to reach the Udayavar sannidhi.This again is another temple by itself