Thirucherai is situated near Kumbakonam, Thanjavur. The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Thirucherai is known variedly as Udayaar Koil, Sen-neriyappar Koil and Arul migu Gnanavalli-samedha-Sara Parmeswarar Koil, to mention a few. The Tamil word Udayaar means, 'one who owns, possesses, or one who is the Master’. The Lord is called Udayaar in the sense that He is the Master of the entire universe and His Consort is known as Udayaal. As He is the one who enables the minds of men to follow the path of rectitude, He is known as sen-neri-appan. The Lord who is the path himself.
Lord Saranathan as Vishnu is named here, stands regally in the main sanctum at Tirucherai surrounded by Pancha Lakshmis- Sri Devi, Bhoo Devi, Neela Devi, Maha Lakshmi and Saranayagi Thaayar.
The Vaishnavites of Thirucherai use the
attribute 'Sara’ (quintessence, core, soul, etc.) to denote the Perumal
enshrined here. The kshetra is known as Sara-kshetra. The Moorthi is known as
Sara-nathan, His Consort as Sara-nayaki, the temple tower as sara-vimanam and
the temple tank as sara-pushkarani. It is therefore that the Saivites have also
chosen to call their Lord as Sara-Parameswarar. The Lord who is the core of all
beings. The temple is popularly known as Arul migu Gnanavalli-samedha-Sara
Parmeswarar Koil.
Temple
This temple has two prakarams. The temple is 116 meters in length and 72 meters width with 22 meters high Raja Gopuram. There are shrines for Yoga Narasimhar and Raja Gopalaswamy with his consorts Rukmani and satyabama. It is also believed that Anjaneya blesses the devotees from the west end of Pushkarini and Ganesh from northeastern side.
Naayak King of Thanjavur, who was attached to Vishnu temples, sent construction materials to Mannargudi for the construction of the Rajagopalaswamy temple. A minister of the king decided to bring a few bricks on every trip to Thiru Cherai for the renovation of this temple.
Suspecting this, the king decided on a sudden inspection. A worried minister prayed to Rajagopalaswamy and to the surprise of the Nayak King, the Mannargudi Lord is said to have appeared before the king at Thirucherai, at the time of the inspection. A delighted king immediately allocated funds towards the construction and renovation of the Thirucherai temple.
In the inner samnctum, River Kaveri has been personified as a mother holding a child on her lap.! The importance given to forces of nature – i.e. the sun, moon, planets, stars, and every aspect of the universe like , rivers, trees, etc in our religion is indeed remarkable. Every temple honours the stala vruksham- a tree, a mount--- e.g. Garudan or Nandi ( i.e. an animal); and at Tirucherai we can see the river Kaveri in her maternal status as a life- giver.
Legend
Markandeya and Kaveri Amman meditated upon Lord Vishnu. It is also believed that brahma made a clay plot to rescue and preserve the Vedas during pralaya, but none of the pots made by Brahma whenever he tried. There upon he was directed by Lord Vishnu to proceed to Thirucherai (Saara Kshetram) and make a pot out of the clay on the banks of kaveri, and thus the Vedas were protected in a pot made out of tough mud at this place.
Once Ganga, Cauvery and other big rivers were playing at the foot of the Vindhya Hills. A Gandharva, who was passing by, waited for a minute and saluted them. Peculiar to know who he looked at, they approached the Gandharva who answered that his salute was addressed at the senior most among them.
While the rest of them gave way, Ganga and Cauvery got into an argument as to who was senior among the two and went to Brahmma for the decision. Brahma pronounced that the water he used for the special pooja of Lord Vishnu flowed down as the Ganges and hence she was the most sacred.
Depressed by this, Cauvery was eager to get herself a similar stature. Brahmma asked her to undertake penance at ThiruCherai and invoke Vishnu’s blessings as he was the only one who could provide her with a solution.
Cauvery requested the Lord to stay at Thirucherai in the same form and he accepted her wish. Also, she wanted to achieve the status of the "sacred water". After more than 1000 years of thapus, Lord appeared before Goddess Kaveri and blessed her with following:
1. She will be equal to ganga in southern part of vindya.
2. He will stay at this Kshethram for ever and bless all those who visit this place.
Temple Timings
The temple is open from 7am to 12 noon in the mornings and from 4 pm to 7 pm in the evenings.
Temple
This temple has two prakarams. The temple is 116 meters in length and 72 meters width with 22 meters high Raja Gopuram. There are shrines for Yoga Narasimhar and Raja Gopalaswamy with his consorts Rukmani and satyabama. It is also believed that Anjaneya blesses the devotees from the west end of Pushkarini and Ganesh from northeastern side.
Naayak King of Thanjavur, who was attached to Vishnu temples, sent construction materials to Mannargudi for the construction of the Rajagopalaswamy temple. A minister of the king decided to bring a few bricks on every trip to Thiru Cherai for the renovation of this temple.
Suspecting this, the king decided on a sudden inspection. A worried minister prayed to Rajagopalaswamy and to the surprise of the Nayak King, the Mannargudi Lord is said to have appeared before the king at Thirucherai, at the time of the inspection. A delighted king immediately allocated funds towards the construction and renovation of the Thirucherai temple.
In the inner samnctum, River Kaveri has been personified as a mother holding a child on her lap.! The importance given to forces of nature – i.e. the sun, moon, planets, stars, and every aspect of the universe like , rivers, trees, etc in our religion is indeed remarkable. Every temple honours the stala vruksham- a tree, a mount--- e.g. Garudan or Nandi ( i.e. an animal); and at Tirucherai we can see the river Kaveri in her maternal status as a life- giver.
Legend
Markandeya and Kaveri Amman meditated upon Lord Vishnu. It is also believed that brahma made a clay plot to rescue and preserve the Vedas during pralaya, but none of the pots made by Brahma whenever he tried. There upon he was directed by Lord Vishnu to proceed to Thirucherai (Saara Kshetram) and make a pot out of the clay on the banks of kaveri, and thus the Vedas were protected in a pot made out of tough mud at this place.
Once Ganga, Cauvery and other big rivers were playing at the foot of the Vindhya Hills. A Gandharva, who was passing by, waited for a minute and saluted them. Peculiar to know who he looked at, they approached the Gandharva who answered that his salute was addressed at the senior most among them.
While the rest of them gave way, Ganga and Cauvery got into an argument as to who was senior among the two and went to Brahmma for the decision. Brahma pronounced that the water he used for the special pooja of Lord Vishnu flowed down as the Ganges and hence she was the most sacred.
Depressed by this, Cauvery was eager to get herself a similar stature. Brahmma asked her to undertake penance at ThiruCherai and invoke Vishnu’s blessings as he was the only one who could provide her with a solution.
Cauvery requested the Lord to stay at Thirucherai in the same form and he accepted her wish. Also, she wanted to achieve the status of the "sacred water". After more than 1000 years of thapus, Lord appeared before Goddess Kaveri and blessed her with following:
1. She will be equal to ganga in southern part of vindya.
2. He will stay at this Kshethram for ever and bless all those who visit this place.
Temple Timings
The temple is open from 7am to 12 noon in the mornings and from 4 pm to 7 pm in the evenings.
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