Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple, Vaduvur – Legends
Story behind the conversion of Gopalan Temple to
Kothanda Ramar Temple:
Completing
the forest life of 14 years, Lord Rama prepared himself for the return journey
to Ayodhya. The sages of the forest requested Lord to stay with them forever.
He promised them to fulfill their request the next day. Lord made an idol of him
and simply placed it before his lodging then. The sages, who came to see
Rama next morning lost themselves at the beauty of the idol and desired to have
it for themselves. Rama, as if he knew nothing about the idol, asked the
sages that they liked the idol more they liked him. Allured by the beauty of
the idol, the sages said Yes.
Lord
Rama gladly gave them their wish and returned to Ayodhya. The idol, after thousands
of years reached the hands of the devotees in Thirukkannapuram. They also
made other idols – Mother Sita, Lakshmana and Anjaneya. During foreign
invasion, they hid the idols in a place called Thalai Gnayiru. Years
rolled by and it was the time when Saraboji King ruled Thanjavur. One day, Lord
Rama appeared in the king’s dream and told him to unearth the deities from
Thalai Gnayiru. He asked the king to establish and worship the deities. The
king awoke and proceeded immediately, with his entourage, to Thalai Gnayiru and
unearthed the deities.
When the
king and his entourage were preparing to leave, the natives of the place
prevented the king from taking the deities. The king managed to convince them and
as compensation left the deities of Baratha and Lakshmana behind with them. He
took possession of Rama, Seetha and Hanuman statues and on his way rested at
Vaduvur. The people of the village (known for their unity) came to know about
the idols and pleaded with the king to establish the deities in their
Rukmani-Sathyabhama samedha Gopalan temple.
Initially,
the king refused but when the villagers threatened to jump from the tower of
the temple and commit suicide, he relented. He allowed them to establish the
idols and since then Rama has been the main deity in the Gopalan temple. Later,
the deity of Lakshmana was also sculpted by the people of Vaduvur. It appeared
like a woman and so the villagers established it as Sundari Amman and built a
separate temple for her. They sculpted another deity of Lakshmana and today
Rama with Seetha and Lakshmana stand majestically to bless the devotees at this
temple.
Vakulaaranya Kshetram:
This is
one of the Abhimana Kshetram of Lord Vishnu and is also called as Vakulaaranya
Kshetram.
Ekadasi Village:
This
place called Vaduvur was once donated to the vidhwans by the kings of Thanjavur
on an Ekadasi day and hence it is also called as ‘Ekadasi’ village.
People worshipped Lord Vishnu here:
It is
said Kanva Maharishi worshipped in this temple and was blessed with the darshan
of Kodandarama. Likewise, Kulasekara Perumal also was blessed with the Lord’s
darshan.
Vaishnava Agamam:
Of the
two Vaishnava, holy religious scriptures, Pancharathram and Vaikanasam, the former
is followed in this temple.
Thyagarajar composition on Vaduvur Ramar:
A
beautiful kriti was composed by Sri Thyagaraja on Lord Rama is “Bantureethi
Kolu.”