SRI RAMA DARSHAN - PADAVEDU - PART - 2

Sri Yoga Ramachandra Swamy Temple (Padavedu)

India - Tamil Nadu - Kannamangalam - Padavedu 

Sri Lakshmi Narasimhar Temple

This temple is located at Ramanathapuram on the southern side of Sri Ramachandraswamy temple and also on the hill top which is situated on the other side of Kamandala river. Due to the river the villages were disconnected and it was TVS who built a bridge and connected the villages. There is a good cement road going to the hilltop till the temple. Since it was a Sani Pradhosham, there was a good crowd. Only here I understood that Pradhosham is special for Sri Lakshmi Narsimhar also since the demon Iranyan was killed during this time (the meeting time of day and night) only.

This is a small temple with only the main shrine. The significance of Lord Lakshmi Narasimhar here being that Goddess Lakshmi is seated on the right side of the Lord whereas normally She will be seen on the left side (The Lakshmi Narasimhar temple at Singiri Koil near here, which is covered in my earlier Blog, also has the right side seated Goddess). Poojas are performed three times a day. The view from the hilltop is breathtaking. The Abishekam for Narasimhar is being done on Sundays.


Yoga Ramachandra Swamy Temple

This temple, constructed before 12th Century AD, is located 1 KM west of Arulmigu Renugambal Temple. Here Lord Rama is uniquely seated in Artha Padmasana with a “Chin Mudra” with Goddess Seetha and Lord Lakshman by his side and without his usual kothandam. Unusually Lord Hanuman is seated in front of Lord Rama reading Palm leaf manuscripts. You can see Lord Hanuman only when you go very near at the sanctum sanctorum. The combination of the clean sanctum sanctorum, the illumination inside and the deities are really marvelous. To top it, a sincere Bhattacharyar makes our visit highly fulfilling.
 
The Vel temple on top of the nearby hill is visible from here.

Note: Ramar in a meditative posture are seen only in 3 places and all of them are in this region. Apart from this temple, they are Nedungunam (covered in my earlier Blog) and a small temple at Ragunatha Samudhram, 5 kms from Nedungunam.

Legend: After the destruction of Ravana, Lord Rama was requested to destroy the demon, hundred headed Mahi Ravana. On behalf of Lord Rama, Hanuman fought with Mahi Ravana. The intense battle witnessed the fall of his (Hanuman) soldiers at the hands of the demon. In spite of his best efforts, Hanuman could not locate Mahi Ravana. At that time, Seetha Devi informed Hanuman that Mahi Ravana was a staunch devotee of Goddess Renuga Devi and his life force was hidden in a lotus flower of a Pond at Kundalipuram and he had been protected by Goddess Renuga Devi. When Hanuman went to Kundalipuram, Goddess Renuga Devi made the lotus Pond to disappear to safeguard Mahi Ravana. Hanuman got angry and fought with Goddess Renuga Devi but Lord Rama intervened and pacified both. Then Lord Rama and Hanuman prayed Goddess Renuga devi to help them in destroying Mahi Ravana. Pleased by the prayers, Goddess Renuga Devi granted the boon and Mahi Ravana was destroyed.

Veera Anjaneyar Temple
This 3 years old temple is on the way to Ramar temple from Renugambal temple and close to the Draupadhi Mandapam. The beautiful deity, Veera Anjaneyar, is about 8 feet tall. This Anjaneyar was in the main road without any temple and when they wanted to move him for the new temple, they could not. Only after adorning him with a Butter Alankaram made of about 40 kg of butter, he moved.

In Padavedu, you can not see the Navagraha shrine in any of the temples (Navagrha worship came into practice only in later perod) and worshipping Verra Anjaneyar is considered equivalent to Navagraha worship. He appears with his tail rounded up and it is considered that he has contained the Navagrahas in his tail. He is appearing with his foot in a way ready fly to Ayodhya from Lanka with his hands in a posture of blessing the devotees. His foot and tail are considered very significant here.

He is a very powerful Anjaneyar who can fulfill all your wishes. A devotee from Hyderabad, came here and prayed just like that for his son’s U.S trip. Since it got fulfilled without any problem, he offered a big golden Ramar dollar which adorns the Anjaneyar now.

Padavedu is protected by Veera Anjaneyar and Kali on all 8 directions and so you can see Veera Anjaneyar temples in many places around Padavedu. There is one (small shrine) at the back of the Renugambal temple also.