Tiruparkadal Ranganathar Temple

Tiruparkadal, a small village on the Chennai - Bangalore Highroad, near Kanchipuram, is considered as equivalent to 107th Divya Desam by devotees. The small village has two Vishnu temples located adjacent to each other. There is a big tank located outside the twin temples. The first temple is dedicated to Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal, where Vishnu is standing on Shiv Linga. The second temple is dedicated to Ranganath, Vishnu in the reclining posture.

The highlight of the temple is the presiding deity, which is made up of Atti tree (wood). The idol looks unique and beautiful due to this. The small temple doesn't have many other shrines. The sanctum enshrines Ranganath reclining on Adi Sesha, the five hooded serpent, along with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi, and also with Brahma. All these idols, found in the sanctum, are made up of Atti tree.

The small temple also has separate shrines for Hanuman and Garud. Alwars are also found in a separate shrine. The idol of the Goddess Ranganayaki, which is also made of Atti tree, looks extraordinarily beautiful. Normally, in South Indian Vishnu temples, the goddess idol looks beautiful. In this temple, the idol looks more beautiful than any of those temples.

As per the legend of this temple, when Brahma was doing yagna, his consort Saraswati took the form of a river and tried to destroy the yagna. Based on the request from Brahma, Lord Vishnu lied across the river and stopped the river from proceeding further. A similar story is associated with Yathodkari temple of Kanchipuram too.

There is a belief that Chitragupta, the assistant of Yama, got rid of his sins by visiting this temple.

A beautiful small temple located in a calm village. Don't miss this.

Happy travelling.

Fast Facts:
Site Name: Ranganathar Temple
Site Type: Hindu Temple
Location: Tiruparkadal,near Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India 
Highlights: Considered as equivalent to the 107th Divya Desam; rare temple of having Vishnu idol in Atti tree
Nearest Railway Station: Chennai - well connected from the cities/towns all over India
Nearest Airport: Chennai has both national and international airports
How to reach: Easily reachable by road from Chennai
Hotel: Many star hotels, luxury hotels/resorts, and budget hotels are available in Chennai
Restaurants: All options - vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Chinese, South Indian, Gujarati, North Indian, Punjabi,....- you can find everything in Chennai city

View Larger Map

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

Little known Nimishamba Temple of Chennai

A 17th century Dargah with healing power - Mount Road Dargah, Chennai, India