Sri Sarangapani Temple

Sri Sarangapani Temple is one of the 108 Sri Vaishnava Divaya Desham Temples and one among the Pancha Ranga Kshetras in the Cholanadu Divya Desham circuit. Sarangapani Temple is also known by many other names such as Bhaskara Kshetram and Kalyanapuram due to the various lilas performed by the Lord.

Before Pralaya, Lord Brahma collected Amrutha in a kumbha and placed it on Meru Hill and during the pralayodaka the kumbha got displaced; it started to float rested at this place. It is said that in pralayodaka the kumbha got tilted and Amrita got spilled in this area this place and was hence called as kuda mukku as amrutha got spilled from the opening of kumbha and later came to be called as Kumbakonam.

Vedic History of this temple

Bhaskara Kshetra

Lord Vishnu wanted to subdue the small tinge of pride of Surya, as he thought without him the whole world would not function without light. As per the instructions of Vishnu, Sudarshana Chakra went and competed with Surya, where each of them can prove their supremacy by lighting the world. Sudarshana proved his supremacy on Surya and showed his effulgence which was more than thousand Surya’s. Humiliated Surya performed tapas in a Tirtha created by Sudarshana to get back his lost effulgence when the Lord gave him darshan. Surya requested Lord Vishnu and Sudarshana to stay in that place and bless all the devotees. Since then, this holy place is called as Bhaskara Kshetram. Hence Sudarshana is named as Chakrapani and Lord Vishnu as Sarangapani.

Hema Rishi’s Tapas

The sages headed by Maharishi Saunaka on the banks of Saraswati wanted to find out which God is supreme. They sent Bhrigu Muni to visit them and test. At the end Bhrigu declared Lord Vishnu as the greatest since He did not lose His temper even after being kicked by him in the chest. Lord Vishnu, on the contrary welcomed Bhrigu – a visiting brahmana with sweet words and gave him proper honour. Lakshmi Devi became enraged and headed to Kolhapur and started living there. Realizing his mistake Brigu came here and did tapas to convince Lakshmi that he was on a mission, to find out who is Supreme among the trimurtis. He repented for being a reason behind the separation of Lord and Lakshmi and as an atonement wanted Lakshmi to take birth as his daughter and give him an opportunity to serve and get Her married to Lord Narayana. Meanwhile Narayana settled in Tirumala wanted to marry Padmavathi; to which Lakshmi Devi became angry knowing about it and came from Kolhapur to speak to Narayana about it. Knowing about the same Lord came from Tirumala and hid Himself in a tunnel in this temple. Even today we can see this place which is called as Patala Srinivasa in the temple. Lakshmi Devi followed the Lord’s path and reached this place but could not find Narayana instead she saw Brigu Rishi who had taken birth as Hema Rishi and was performing tapas here. Lakshmi Devi appeared on a thousand petal Lotus flower in the form of a baby girl to Hema Rishi and he understood that it is Lakshmi Devi Herself and brought up this child and offered his daughter in marriage to Sarangapani. The Lord emerged out of the Srirangam Vimana on a Makara Sankanti day which was driven by horses & elephants and got married to Komalavalli. Hence even today the Lord is seen in a chariot.

Lucky devotee

Lakshmi Narayana an orphan devotee built the largest the temple’s gopuram for the Lord in Chola Mandalam then of 147ft. The devotee had no one to take care of him in his old age. When he passed away, an unknown person came and performed the final rites. The same day, the Lord appeared in the then temple’s head priest’s dream saying, “He had performed the final rites of Lakshmi Narayana” and therefore asked him to perform an abhisheka. The next day the priest saw the Lord in wet clothes in Praceenavitam; even to this day on Deepavali Amavasya, the Lord here performs shraddha to this devotee.

Thirumazhisai Alwar’s request

Sri Sarangapani Temple is also called as Ubaya Pradhana Kshetram as the Moolavar (presiding Deity) and utsavar (festive Deity) enjoy the same importance. Thirumazhisai Azhwar – one of the twelve prominent Tamil saints was singing praise of Aravamudan and he requested Him to raise up from His reclining position. Aravamudan started raising to sitting position Azhwar to request Him to recline again; realizing it is an Archa Vigraha.

The Presiding Deities in the Temple

One can have darshan of the Lord in uttana shayanam where the Lord is seen slightly raising. We can also have darshan of Lord Brahma on a lotus emanating from Sri Sarangapani’s navel and Hema Rishi along with his daughter Komalavalli with folded hands in front of the Lord.

Temple Architecture

Sri Sarangapani Temple is the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam and boasts a eleven-tier Rajagopuram at a height of 173 ft (53 m) depicting various lilas of the Lord. There are five other small gopurams in the temple. The temple faces east and the Potramarai tank is located outside the western entrance. The central shrine of the temple is in the form of a chariot drawn by horses and elephants, with openings on either side, showing the descent of Sri Sarangapani in the chariot.

The sanctum has Uttarayana and Dakshnayana doors. This temple has beautiful carvings and sculptures in the first tier of the gopuram, depicting the Bharata Natya karanas, as enunciated in the Natya Sastrams.

Festivals Celebrated

Brahmotsavam is another major festival celebrated with great pomp and fervor. The temple’s twin chariots which weigh approximately 300 tonnes each. The chariots are pulled by hundreds of devotees across the streets around the temple twice a year, once during the Brahmmotsavam during chittirai (April–May) and other during Ratasaptami in January–February.

On Akshya Tritiya day, Deities from 12 temples mount on Garuda and give darshan to devotees in the main street of Kumbakonam. We would have seen in many temples, Lord Vishnu dressing up as Laksmi Devi, but this is the only temple where Laksmi Devi dresses up as Lord Vishnu during the Brahmotsava.

How to Reach

The best way to reach Sarangapani Temple is to join our Cholanadu Divya Desham Yatra. For booking call 9844700850 / 9108332626.

Sarangapani Temple is well connected by road from major cities of India. It is in in Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu.

By Road: The temple is well connected by road networks. There are regular bus services from Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli and Bangalore. You may also book a cab at 9844700850.

By Flight: The nearest airport to Sri Sarangapani Temple is Trichy airport, which is 100 Km away from the temple.

By Train: The nearest railway station to Sri Sarangapani Temple is Kumbakonam railway station which is 3 Km away from the temple.

Photo Credits

Sri Sarangapani Perumal and Sri Komalavalli Thayaar sametha Sri Sarangpani perumal – JR Designs, Vintage picture of Sri Sarangapani Temple – ADG Shelley,

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