Kumbakonam

Sarangapani Temple Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam, known as the Temple Town, is a  former capital of the Chola kings in the 7th century, and is about 4 hours by bus from Tiruchirappelli. It has about 15 temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva around the town centre and there is also a rare temple to Brahma  here too.

The Sarangapani temple, mostly built by the Nayaks between the 13th and 17th century ( the central shrine dates to the Chola period, 10th-12th C.E) is considered to be one of the most important Vaishnava temples in South India along with Sri Rangam (Tiruchiappelli) and  Sri Venkateshwara or Balaji Temple in Tirupati. Here again Lord Vishnu is seen reclining on Ananta Sesa, the celestial serpent.

My experience here was very welcoming. Arriving in the evening of the 9th in time for the evening ritual, I was met with the sweet smell of hay and cows as soon as I stepped through yet another fabulous Dravidian gopuram (gateway). There, to one side, was a small cow sanctuary (goshalla) complete with new born calves.

The evening was balmy and breezy and I was among the very few visitors to the temple that evening. This allowed for a tranquil and unhurried stay. A group of  eight brahmins, in a small inner courtyard immediately in front of the inner sanctum, were reciting prayers in unison from their Sri Vaisnava scriptures. I sat for about a half hour, welcomed by the altar priest, in the timeless space of sacred chant until I was ready for sleep and repeated it all again the next morning before leaving for Chidambaram.

The Cow Sanctuary at the Sarangapani Temple