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| happy Rama Navami, .thequint.com |
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| Eri-katha Ramar temple, Maduranthagam, TN |
Above image: Eri-Katha Ramar Temple of Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu. image credit.SSriram upload.wikimedia.org
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| Sri ramar temple, Madurantakam, TN |
Above image: Eri-Katha Ramar Temple of Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu. Commons. wikimedia. org Above image: Krishna Kumar.........
Eri-Katha Ramar Temple dedicated to Rama in the town of Maduranthakam, Tamil Nadu, is a popular one in this state.a nd is said to be one of the oldest in India. Thirumalisai Azhwar one of the pious vaishnava saints classified this Ramar temple as 108 Divya Prabandha Kshetras in the Vaishnavite tradition. The great seer Sri Ramanujar also for his part glorified this shrine where Udayavar (the presiding deity) was named Ramanuja. This temple is a sanctified place of worship because Thirumalisai Azhwar attained siddhi (enlightenment) here and Sri Ramanuja was given the Pancha Samskara Mantram by his guru at this holy kshetram. here Sri Rama navami is celebrated on a grand scale in this month. The highlight of this festival here is Sri Rama appears in four different alangarams (decoration) One of them being he appears in Muthu kondai during the auspicious ent that is attended by 1000s of devotees. (a separate article will be posted soon)...........
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| Eari-katha ramar temple deities .tamilbrahmins.com |
Built during the Pallava era,(roughly 1600 years old), the presiding deity (moolavar) is Sri Rama (an incarnation of god Vishnu) in standing posture (8ft tall ; facing east) and his consort is Sita. Also includes here is his brother sri Lakshmana. The images are not made of hard stone for unknown reasons and are made of stucco. Her goddess Sita is worshipped as Janakavalli (daughter of Janaka maharajah in the Ramayana).
Stone inscriptions in the temple reveal that rulers of past era made generous grants to the temple, mention may be made of Chola king Parantaka I who ruled this place that that was once called Maduranthaga Chaturvedi Mangalam (named after the Chola ruler Madurantaga Uttama Chola (973–985 CE). The name owes its origin to Gandaraditya who generously donated to the Veda Pundits (Chaturvedi) to take care the temple, nithya pujas, etc.
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Above image: Eri-Katha Ramar Temple of Madurantakam near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, In this small humble pillared mantap centuries ago Sri Ramanuja was given the Pancha Samskaram (Divine syllable) by his guru Periya Nambigal. image credit.SSriram mt......
It was here the great acharya sri Ramanuja was given "Pancha Samskaram" (initiation) by his teacher Periya Nambigal in a small shrine below the Magizha tree. It was from her Sri Ramanuja proceeded to Srirangam to become the disciple of Periya Nambigal on divinley orders from Varadaraja perumal (kanchi) through Tirukachi Nambi, yet another seer, The two wo great vaishnava saints Periya Nambi and Ramanuja met here near the banks of Maduranthkam lake and on an auspicious day in the month of Avani, on the Sukla Panchami, Ramanuja is said have received the Samasrayanam or Pancha Samskaram from Periya Nambi. This hallowed hall around the sanctum of Sri Ramar temple is still there. It was in this place Seer Ramanuja, in his ''Poorvasaram'' had spent his last day as a Grihastha (family man).
Following this event Maduranthakam called "Dvayam Vilindha Tirupathi".
Among the many festivals, the major one is the Rama Navami festival, which commemorates the birth of Rama. Yet another popular festival is Ani Brahmostavam in the the Tamil month of Aani (July - August)and the Panchasamskaram festival is held here to commemorate the sanctification of Sri Ramanuja.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eri-Katha_Ramar_Temple
https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=808
https://www.maalaimalar.com/devotional/temples/2018/01/17092324/1140615/eri-katha-ramar-temple.vpf