Sriperumbudur Adi Kesava Perumal Temple

Sri Adi Kesava Perumal Temple at Sriperumbudur is one of India's most important Vishnu temples. This is the birthplace of Ramanuja, the great Vaishnavite saint.

Sriperumbudur is an industrial town, which is strategically located on the Chennai-Bangalore highway, at a distance of around 40 km from Chennai, the city called "Gateway to South India".

Sriperumbudur is famous due to two reasons. Sriperumbudur is the birthplace of Sri Ramanujar, also called Ethirajar, one of the most prominent Vaishnavite saints. He was the founder of the Visistadvaita philosophy. He belongs to the period of the 12th century CE. Another reason why Sriperumbudur became famous recently is because the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated here.



This big and ancient temple is located at the heart of Sriperumbudur town. Lord Vishnu is named Adi Kesava in this temple. In the sanctum, he is found in the standing posture along with his two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi.

Near his sanctum, the shrine of Sri Ramanuja is found. The stone and the processional (metal/utsava) icons of Ramanuja are located in the same shrine. It is believed that the metal icon was made when Ramanuja was alive. It is said that it was embraced by Ramanuja himself.

The prakara has the shrine of the Goddess Ethirajanathavalli Thayar. It is rare to find a goddess named after her devotee. There is a separate shrine for Andal and another for Rama-Sita-Lakshmana.

 The temple is full of mural paintings depicting various temples and forms of Lord Vishnu. The sculptures and the pillars in the temple are beautiful. Yazhi, the mythical animal, is in most of the pillars in this temple.

Outside the temple, there are separate temples for Manavala Munigal and Ramanuja. The Ramanuja temple over here is the actual birthplace of the saint Ramanuja. Unfortunately, all these adjacent temples generally remain closed except for the main temple.

Happy travelling.






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Comments

  1. similar temple was constructed @ NARASAPURAM WG dt by SRIMAN PUPPALA RAMANAPPA NAIDU garu in the year 1726.

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