Thirusemponsaikoil

Vishnu as Hemaranganatha

Consort Sweda Pushpavalli

Vaishnava temple

The legend of all the eleven temples of Thirunangur are closely associated with each other. As per legend, the Hindu god Shiva in the form of Rudra started dancing in fury at this place after the death of his consort Uma due to the yagna (sacrifice) of Daksha. Each time his lock of hair touched the ground, there were eleven other forms of Shiva who appeared. The celestial deities were worried that if the dance continues, it would result in decimation of entire creations. They prayed to Vishnu for help, who appeared at this place. On seeing Vishnu, Shiva's anger was reduced and he requested Vishnu to appear in eleven forms like he did. On his request, Vishnu appeared in eleven different forms at Tirunangur. The eleven places where Vishnu appeared are believed to be where the eleven temples in Tirunangur are located. It is believed that Vishnu advocated Rudra the importance of Dvadasanamems or the twelve Vaishnava marks in the respective parts of the body. As per another variant, Shiva requested Vishnu to appear in eleven different forms like him to control the eleven Shiva forms he created. The eleven Rudras, called Ekadas Rudras and king of devas, Indra, are believed to have worshiped Vishnu at this temple. Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu came to this place after killing Ravana. He made a golden idol of a cow and gifted to a Brahmin from the ashram of sage Dranethra, from where the place obtained its name. It is believed that Azhagiya Manavalar, the presiding deity at the Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple in Trichy came to this place at the request of Shiva. The Brahmin is believed to have built the temple with the gold he obtained and hence it is called Thiruchemponsey ( indicated gold in Tamil).

Architecture

Dravidian architecture

First attested

9th century

Details are compiled from Wikimedia projects and published temple sources. Send a correction if something is wrong.

• Wikipedia, Divya Desam
• Wikipedia, Thiruchsemponsey

More links

• HRCE Tamil Nadu
• English Wikipedia
• Google Maps
• Tamil Wikipedia