Yoga Rama
Temple, Nedungunam – The Temple
The
temple has two big Gopurams at the Eastern entrance – the 105 feet 5 tiered Raja
Gopuram and the 65 feet Kili Gopuram. Inscriptions can be traced to the Raya
period and hence the temple can be said to be at least 500 years old. Spaced in
an almost 90000sq. ft area, this is the biggest Vishnu temple in the North
Arcot and Thiruvannamalai districts and also possibly the biggest Rama temple
in Tamilnadu. Sri Rama was installed in the temple by Rishi Krishna
Premi. The temple is built by Krishnadeva Raya on a vast area of 8 acres. Theertham
is called as Sukha Theertham (also called Surya Theertham). Shala Vriksham
is Vilwa tree.
Sri Rama
looks sitting calm in the sanctum sanctorum with his right hand on the chest,
while Mother Sita holds a lotus in the right hand and left pointing to the feet
of Rama as if telling the devotees that their destiny is safe at his
feet. Brother Lakshmana is standing by the right side of Sri Rama. Hanuman
has a place in the sanctum sanctorum itself in this temple only. Hanuman is
holding the palm leaf book reading the scriptures. It is noteworthy that there
is no bow and arrow with Rama in this temple. It is said that as Rama did not
need to have his usual bow and arrow as he was returning back from the war on a
peace path. Lakshmana holds these weapons.
Two huge
and beautiful Dwarabalagars, sculptured with artistic excellence are located at
the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum. The inner most praharam around the
Moolavar is about 10 feet underground and one has to bend and enter/ exit very
carefully signifying that we have to be very humble in the place of the Lord. In
front of the Sanctum Sanctorum, there is a hall with lovely architecture. Depiction
of Krishna Leela and Krishnadevaraya standing humbly with folded hands in
reverence and humility can be seen in the pillars of this hall.
The
second gopuram is called Kili Gopuram in honour of Sukabrahmma Maharishi (Kili
means Parrot in Tamil) who stands as a hill next to the temple. This hill is
called Dheerkachalam (long hill) and looks like the head of a parrot from an
angle. Every panel of the gopuram had beautiful scenes from Ramayana and
Dasavathara on it. There were two mandapams (Halls) facing one another with
intricate craftsmanship and architectural excellence.
There is
another Mandapam called Muthu Mandapam, named after a Devadasi
called Muthu, daughter of Manickam.
There
are two sets of Utsava murtis and the reason being that one set of idols was
stolen sometimes back and just when the second set was installed, the first one
was got in perfect shape. The Urchava Moorthy is called Vijaya Raghava Perumal
signifying the Victory of Rama over Ravana. He is seen holding chakra and conch
in their upper hands with the lower right hand showing the abhaya mudra. There
is a small stone idol of Vijaya Raghava Perumal within the sanctum sanctorum as
well.
There is
a separate shrine for Thayar Sengamalavalli and she is connected with the
Urchava Moorthy Vijaya Raghava Perumal. Like the Dwarabalagars of the Ramar
shrine, the Dwarapalagis of the Thayar shrine are also stunningly beautiful. There
are separate shrines for Azhwar, Sri Krishna, and Sudharsana along with Yoga
Narasimhar as an integral part on its back side.
There is also a shrine exclusively
for Lord Venkateswara. In a separate shrine, Vaikhanasa the preceptor of
Vaikhanasa agama is seen with four disciples in a corner. There are two idols
of Anjaneya one of which was found in a nearby hill.
In spite
of the temple being connected mainly to Sukha Brahma Rishi, the idol of Sukha
Brahma Rishi was not seen in this Temple. But his Idol was located on the
nearby Dheerkachalam Hill. Dheerkachalam appears exactly as a human with a
Parrot face at a particular angle while coming from Chetput to Nedungunam. On
top of the hill, the feet of Ramar is present in stone in open without any
shrine and can be worshipped at any time of the day.
There are totally 3
temples in this region with Ramar in yoga posture. This being the main temple
and apart from this there is a small temple at Raghunatha Samudhram, 5 kms from
here and a TVS group maintained temple at Padavedu near here.
Inscriptions:
A 16th
Century AD inscription reveals that during the rule of Veera Achutha Deva Raya
a nearby village was given as donation for the conduct of the festival at the
Rama temple. An inscription near the Rajagopuram states there was a grant
of land for the perpetual maintenance of the temple activities and poojas. It
also has a word of caution. Anyone trying to hinder the conduct of the temple
poojas/activities will incur a curse equivalent to killing a cow on the banks
of the Ganges.
A 17th
Century AD inscription talks about grant of land to provide for the maintenance
of a doctor in Nedungunam. On the Southern end of the Kili Rajagopuram, there
is a reference to Kuzhambalur Thandavarya Chidambaram ‘Daily Service’, an
indication that someone was taking care of the expenses relating to the proper
conduct of the daily pooja services at the temple. On a stone culvert on the
Southern side of the temple, there is a mention of taxing any new resident to
this place during the rule of Vijayanagara King, Venkatapathi Deva Raya.
