Sunday, May 20, 2012

Thiruvadanai Temple

The massive stone pillared corridor around the sanctum
Legend: Vaaruni is the son of Varuna the God of rain.  One day he stayed in the Ashram of Sage Durvasa who was in deep meditation.  Vaaruni’s friends playing in the ashram  disturbed his penance.  The angry sage cursed Vaaruni  to become a strange creature with the head of a goat and body of an elephant. In Tamil the name will be Aadu (goat) and Aanai (elephant), hence the name of the place Thiru Aadu Aanai – Thiruvadanai.  Vaaruni realized his folly.  Sages nearby suggested that he should go to this temple in the Pandya kingdom, pray to Lord Shiva for relief from the curse. Vaaruni followed the advice.  Lord appeared before him and  Vaaruni in his Aadu-Yanai form begged the Lord that his life should be a lesson to those behaving badly towards respectful elders and that this place should be known as Thiruvadanai till the end of Kaliyuga (This is the present age or Yuga we all presently live in ! .
This is one of the 275 revered Thevara Sthalams,located 24 Kms south of Devakottai. This is also one of the Pandi Pathinalu.
The presiding deity here is Lord Siva in known as Aadhi Ratneswarar (Swayambhu Lingam) and his consort is Snehavalli Amman. The temple is estimated to about 1000-2000 yrs old. The temple has amazing number of Bas Reliefs on stone pillars and I could snap up quite a few of these beauties. I am unable to identify most of these sculptures on stone and require help from fellow bloggers.Please help in identification.
Magnificent Rajagopuram (Entrance Tower)
The sparkling,fresh & cool temple pond for a refreshing dip
The magnificent pillar mandapam 
Can you identify this creature ?
Identify this face?
Identify this Hindu God ?
Lion
A deer
Apsara or Gandharva ?
Shiva Lingam
Identify this character ?
A peacock ?
Nice Carvings
Identify this animal ?
Identify this Hindu God?

38 comments:

  1. Beautiful architecture and interesting history.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

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  2. Lovely carvings and a very visual post!

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  3. Beautiful temple, a architectural marvel.

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  4. Beautiful carvings and loved the mythological tale!

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  5. I loved the first photograph and the write up too

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  6. I can't identify any of the gods, but I'm amazed by the craftmanship in this ancient temple. Beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. country=INDIA
      state =Tamilnadu
      District=Ramanathapuram
      LOCATION=THIRUVADANAI

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  7. thanks for this post...i need to visit this !

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  8. Wow! 1000 years old temple! The carvings are great. I think the third Hindu God is Yama, the god of Death, because he is holding the pasha (loop) but there s no dog accompanying him, it should be there. I could be wrong too! Rest I don't know.

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  9. Informative and amazing post. Love the photos!

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  10. incredibly ornate artwork, once again.

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  11. Our temples are gold mines of art, heritage and culture....

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  12. Ornate carvings, thanks for showing us.

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  13. Love that peacock carving. So artistic!

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  14. great architecture and nice carvings..its so hard to believe that these temples were made thousands of years ago when there weren't any machinery to help out :)

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  15. Very beautiful temple. I love the tiles on the ceiling in the first shot where the archways are. All wonderful shots but that was my favorite.

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  16. Great and interesting post.
    Beautiful temple and the carvings are beautiful.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Mette

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  17. Namaste....
    thanks for the lessons and the photos of the temple.

    stay blessed
    rhapsody
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  18. wonderful captures and thanks for sharing the fascinating legend!

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  19. My friend Ram,
    What amazing photos!!! Wow, I am blown away with admiration. Thank you for this history and incredible posting my friend. As always, very well done!

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  20. All the things you have done here are too marvelous.

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  21. So many pics!
    I too never get tired of clicking.

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  22. Just awesome post! Great pictures as always. Thanks for sharing this amazing reportage.

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  23. Informative.. Thanks for sharing..

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  24. I do not know how I missed this post.

    What makes me wonder and stay in awe is the effort and meticulous detail that go with all these magnificent constructions of yore. What is a WTC or a Petrona Tower compared to the grandeur and aesthetics these magnificent ancient structures has?
    And they have stood the ravages too.

    Are you on a traveling phase in your life?

    What is also majestic is the corridors that all these south Indian temples have.

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  25. @anilkurup: Thanks for your appreciation. Yes I have retired after 40 years service and I am on a traveling binge these days.

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  26. The architecture has been presented in a beautiful manner. Congrats for the superb photography.

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  27. Very beautiful temple

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  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  29. i'm very proud to i have a native in thiruvadanai.

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  30. I feel very much that I have not visited such a beautiful temple.
    I never knew that Thiruvadanai is blessed by the Lord Adhi Rathneswarar.and the temple has thousands of acres of land.

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  31. It was very wonderful to know about the Tiruvadanai temple and the images of the temple are really awesome.If you want to travel then book tickets in Greenline Travels and enjoy your trip.

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