DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0457
Temples and Sacred Places. Srt-raiigam. 44;
wife Parvati, who has a shrine on the left side of the temple,
under the name of Kantimati, 'the lovely one,' is the most
popular object of adoration1. The Linga of Siva, in a
kind of holy of holies in this temple, is very sacred. The
approach to it is by a long corridor; but the sanctuary itself
is not visible at the end of the vista. It is protected by three
other approaches or vestibules, each increasing in sanctity
(called the Ghanta-mandapa, the Maha-mandapa, and the
Arddha-mandapa), into none of which was I permitted to enter.
The Linga is, of course, never moved from its place in the
penetralia of the temple, but an image of Siva, called the
Utsava-murti, is carried about in procession on certain festival
days, especially when the annual ceremony of marrying the
god and the goddess is performed every October. The god
of love (Kama-deva) and his wife Rati have also images in
this temple, and a festival is held in their honour every
spring. Two magnificent open halls—one with a thousand
columns, the other with a hundred and eight—a tank, a beau-
tiful garden, and a grove of palms are all contained within the
enclosure of the temple.
Without adverting further to the temple of the Kapalesvara
form of Siva at Nasik (p. 442), which I visited in 1875, I
conclude this chapter by a brief account of a Vaishnava
temple, selecting the most noteworthy and striking of all,
that of Sn-rangam at Trichinopoly.
This remarkable structure, or collection of structures, con-
tains in one of its courts a shrine of Ramanuja, the great
Vaishnava teacher (p. 119), who is supposed to have lived
here for a considerable time before his death. Sri-rangam is,
indeed, rather a sacred city than a temple. Hundreds of
Brahmans dwell within its precincts, thousands of-pilgrims
SalivatBvara (or in Tamil, Nel velll-natha). I was informed that, at a
sacred shrine south of the Vindhya, Siva is worshipped as Draksharame-
svara,' lord of the vineyard.'
1 Live parrots and cockatoos are hung before her shrine as offerings,
just as before the shrine of Mlnakshi at the Madura temple.
wife Parvati, who has a shrine on the left side of the temple,
under the name of Kantimati, 'the lovely one,' is the most
popular object of adoration1. The Linga of Siva, in a
kind of holy of holies in this temple, is very sacred. The
approach to it is by a long corridor; but the sanctuary itself
is not visible at the end of the vista. It is protected by three
other approaches or vestibules, each increasing in sanctity
(called the Ghanta-mandapa, the Maha-mandapa, and the
Arddha-mandapa), into none of which was I permitted to enter.
The Linga is, of course, never moved from its place in the
penetralia of the temple, but an image of Siva, called the
Utsava-murti, is carried about in procession on certain festival
days, especially when the annual ceremony of marrying the
god and the goddess is performed every October. The god
of love (Kama-deva) and his wife Rati have also images in
this temple, and a festival is held in their honour every
spring. Two magnificent open halls—one with a thousand
columns, the other with a hundred and eight—a tank, a beau-
tiful garden, and a grove of palms are all contained within the
enclosure of the temple.
Without adverting further to the temple of the Kapalesvara
form of Siva at Nasik (p. 442), which I visited in 1875, I
conclude this chapter by a brief account of a Vaishnava
temple, selecting the most noteworthy and striking of all,
that of Sn-rangam at Trichinopoly.
This remarkable structure, or collection of structures, con-
tains in one of its courts a shrine of Ramanuja, the great
Vaishnava teacher (p. 119), who is supposed to have lived
here for a considerable time before his death. Sri-rangam is,
indeed, rather a sacred city than a temple. Hundreds of
Brahmans dwell within its precincts, thousands of-pilgrims
SalivatBvara (or in Tamil, Nel velll-natha). I was informed that, at a
sacred shrine south of the Vindhya, Siva is worshipped as Draksharame-
svara,' lord of the vineyard.'
1 Live parrots and cockatoos are hung before her shrine as offerings,
just as before the shrine of Mlnakshi at the Madura temple.