Sri Rajagopala Temple @ Mannargudi

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I am trying to collect sthala puranams and general descriptions of

temples etc. in the South. I wish to thank the individuals that sent me

the stories of the Sholingapuram temple.

 

There are three current temples that I would like to have information

disseminated:

 

Sri Vidya Rajagopala temple in Mannargudi.

 

This temple is very famous as a pilgrimage place for people

desiring artistry in the fine arts/music etc. The deity - Rajagopala or

Krishna is supposed to possess feminine features (but not in the Ardhanariswaram

sense) - The Sri in the title is supposedly representative of the Shakti in

the feminine sense. Muthuswamy Dikshitar has penned 2 songs, one of whom

is pretty much lost - Sri Vidya Rajagopala in Saveri and Sri Vidya Rajagopalam

in Jaganmohanam (not Jaganmohini).

 

The Namakkal Narasimha Temple -

This is a cave temple and is of

particular interest to me since my grandfather hails from this area. I

believe that there is a temple to Thayar also in the same area.

 

The Sankaranarayana Temple in Nagarcoil which has one side with Vishnu and

one side with Shiva - a unique icon perhaps outside the pale of srivaishnava

centers but of interest nevertheless. There is a poem by Adi Sankara (perhaps

not on this deity) which has alternate stanzas addressed to each deity - I

wonder if anyone knows this or has this poem.

 

Thanks

Mukund Srinivasan