Tenkasi Kasi Viswanathar Temple
Tenkasi Kasi Viswanathar Temple
History of Kasi Viswanathar, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli
The Thenkasi temple has Kasi Viswanathar as the main deity, along with Ulagamman and Visalakshmi Thayar shrines. This temple is in Thenkasi, which falls under the Tirunelveli district, and is nearly five hundred to one thousand years old. It is approximately one hundred and nine kilometers from Tuticorin, seventeen kilometers from Virudhunagar, and sixty-three kilometers from Tirunelveli. The timings when you can visit the temple are between 6 in the morning to 12 in the noon and 4 in the evening to 8:30 in the night. To learn more about the Thenkasi temple, log in to our Tirunelveli Today website.
A Gist About the Thenkasi Temple
The Thenkasi temple got its name from the sthala puranam. The surrounding tourism has become the focal point of the entire city as it is now. Parakrama Pandyan, King Pandya, longed to go to Kasi but could never do so. He dreamt of Lord Siva advising him to take the direction of ants and raise a shrine in a particular place. The king found the location of the temple near the river Chitraru River. The king relied on divine power, constructed a temple for Lord Siva, brought a Lingam from Kasi, and erected it. But a specific fact in history states that the lingam was swayambhu murti already in that location. Thenkasi got its name from this shrine which represented Kasi, as it was situated in the south.
Everything You Need to Know About Thenkasi Temple's History
The Thenkasi temple was constructed in the fourteenth century by the great Parakrama Pandya. A few later additions were done during the Vijayanagara dynasty by the Nayaks. Inscriptions on the temple talk about King Vira Pandyan's gifts to various people during the late fourteenth century and the city's establishment in the thirteenth century. The temple was built using the Somaskandar concept, which housed separate shrines for Parvati and Siva, facing the east and Murugan in the center. The garbhagriham has Parakrama Pandyan, which can be worshipped at all the temple festivals. Some Puranas state that Tenkasi is the birthplace of Nandi, and Agastyar, Vali, and Indra are worshipped here.
The temple covers 5 acres and has interesting art and architecture created by the Nayaks, Vijayanagara dynasty, and Pandyas. The pillar art is unique in the Pandya style, with classical depictions of numerous tandavams from Agni Veerabhadra, Siva, Aghora Veerabhadra, Kali, and Vishnu, among others. The huge one hundred and eighty-foot tall raja gopuram has a fascinating history. The flat gopuram, or the mottai gopuram, was constructed by the Pandyas. It was then entirely renovated during the time of the Vijayanagara dynasty. A fire burned down the whole place in 1824, and the temple tower was in demolished condition until the middle of the 1960s. Restoration work began and was completed in 1990.
Architectural Wonders of the Thenkasi Temple
The wind pattern blowing through the entrance of the gopuram is unique. If you enter the temple arc from the east, you will experience the wind pushing against you. But if you descend from the entry point, the wind spins, which further pushes you from behind when you move towards the premises of the temple.
The shrine at Thenkasi temple is the Prarthana sthalam for people with Sevvai dosham, delayed marriages, and pregnant women with an easy labour. The Masi Magham temple festival is held between February to March. This festival is the most important among the other annual festivals. Once the Pandyas moved from Madurai, they used the entire space wisely. Pandyas considered Tenkasi as the last domain before the end of their dynasty.
The Bottom-line
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Height: 175 feet 9 level
Length: North - South -110 feet
Width: East-West- 84 feet
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