Manakkal Nambi Temple, Manakkal, Trichy
Manakkal Nambi Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to
Lord Vishnu located at Manakkal Village near Lalgudi Town in Trichy District of
Tamilnadu. The village is the birthplace of Manakkal Nambi. There is a shrine
for Manakkal Nambi in the Temple. The Temple is named after him.
History
Manakkal Nambikal was an important Vaishnavite Guru. His
original name was Rama Misrar. He was born in this village, which is called as
Manakkal in the 10th century CE. His Guru was Uyyakondar. After the
demise of Uyyakondar's wife, Rama Misrar took charge of attending the personal
needs of his Guru and his two young daughters. One day, the young daughters of
Uyyakondar, after taking bath in the river, had to cross the muddy way. Rama
Misrar lied down forming himself as a human bridge. He made the young girls to
cross over the path by walking on his back.
As the sandy footprints of the girls were found on his
back, Rama Misrar was called as Manakkal Nambigal from that particular day onwards.
The word Manakkal means sandy footprints. Uyyakondar entrusted the task of
finding his Guru Nathamuni's grandson to Manakkal Nambi. Manakkal Nambi traced
Alavandar. Alavandar was leading a royal life. Manakkal Nambi met him,
convinced him and turned him into spiritual path. Thus, due to the attempts of
Manakkal Nambi, Alavandar @. Yamunacharya came to Sri Rangam and he also became
a Vaishnavite Guru in the future.
The
Temple
The temple is very small. It does not have tower. The
presiding deity of the temple is Varadarajar in standing posture. He has
his two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi, on his either sides. The temple
has simple layout. It has one prakara around the sanctum. The Utsava idols
of Varadarajar and his consorts are also found in the sanctum. In the Maha
mandapam, in a separate shrine, a lot of bronze idols are located. It includes
the idols from the nearby Kailasanathar temple such as Nataraja, Sivakami, etc.
In the Maha Mandapam, there is another sub-shrine which
enshrines the idols of Vishwaksenar, Ramanuja and Lakshmi Narayana. Garuda is
found facing towards the direction of the sanctum. Near Garuda, there is a
shrine for Manakkal Nambi. Although the presiding deity of the temple is
Varadarajar, people call the temple as Manakkal Nambigal Temple.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 300 meters Manakkal Bus
Stop, 2.5 Kms from Lalgudi Bus Station, 3 Kms form Lalgudi, 4 Kms from Lalgudi
Railway Station, 6 Kms from Anbil, 25 Kms from Trichy and 30 Kms from Trichy
Airport.