There is something intrinsically sacrosanct about last minute plans especially when invoking the divine. Our decision to go to Sri Rangam was impromptu and took place at the eleventh hour. Now looking at it in hindsight, it was certainly one of the best decisions ever made as the Lord arranged everything for us at his own accord which we savoured to our heart's content.
Even though a thought had been looming to visit Sri Rangam for almost a week, the action to eventually go was implanted only around the early hours of the evening when we boarded the bus and decided to walk the tightrope. The divine was calling and we just followed its ways and everything crystallised as per his beck & call. We reached Sri Rangam in the wee hours of the morning on 10th Aug 2025 without having an accommodation and he just magically led us to stay at a comfortable place within striking distance of the iconic Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple. No amount of planning would have ever resulted in getting us a place in the proximity of a sanctorum circulating the pure air of divinity around for us to breathe and get purified.
Appended below is the list of temples that were visited in and around Sri Rangam (Trichy) on 10th & 11th August 2025
Divya Desams:
1) Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Sri Rangam
2) Sri Purushottaman Perumal Temple (Uthamar Kovil), Thirukkarambanoor
3) Sri Appakudathan Perumal Temple, Thirupper Nagar
4) Sri Vadivazhagiya Nambi Perumal Temple, Thiru Anbil
5) Sri Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple, Thiruvellarai
Pancha Bhoota Element: (Water)
6) Jambukeshwarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval
Amman:
7) Arulmigu Mariamman Temple, Samayapuram
Krishna:
8) Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Footprints, Sri Rangam
9) Sri Jagannath Mutt, Sri Rangam
Divya Desam:
Divya Desams are special 108 temples of Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi which have been mentioned in the works of the 12 Alwars (Poet Saints of Vishnu) who are known for their meticulous devotion having compiled the Divya Prabandham consisting of 4000 verses. Out of 108, only 106 are in the physical realm belonging in Planet Earth with 105 of these located in India and the one located outside India happens to be at Saligramam in Nepal. The two Divya Desams not located on Earth happen to be Kshira Sagara - the divine ocean in Heaven and Vaikunta - the heavenly abode of Vishnu & Lakshmi. Out of the total 108 Divya Desams, 6 of them happen to be around theTrichy border.
We managed to cover 5 of these 6 having our base location just about a stone's throw away from the magnificent Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple. Listed below are brief insights on the 5 Divya Desams that were covered during our yatra.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Sri Rangam
This is a dazzling architectural marvel alluring in form and glittering in structure. It is considered as one of the foremost Vaishnava temple. It is the numero-uno in the list of the 108 Divya Desam temples and thronged by people all over the globe with it being listed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world. The temple tower known as Gopuram in Srirangam is termed as the "Raja Gopuram" and is said to be the largest Gopuram in the whole of Asia. Sri Rangam hosts tonnes of deities across Hindu mythology with the main deity being Lord Ranganatha, a reclining form of Vishnu. He is seen along with his primary consort Ranganayaki and two secondary consorts besides to the left & right of her viz Bhu Devi and Nila Devi. The most interesting fact about Sri Rangam temple is that it would not even have seen the light of the day. As legend goes, it is believed that this deity rose from the Ocean (Paarkadal) as a result of Brahma’s penance after which Ikshvaku, a descendant king of the Sun God (Surya), brought this idol to his capital in Ayodhya. This was then handed over to Lord Rama who is said to have received the idol by way of inheritance and worshipped it with great reverence. He had then requested Vibheeshana, the brother of Ravana, to install this deity in Sri Lanka with instructions to not rest the idol elsewhere. Vibheeshana, being a devout Brahmin, performed daily rituals at dusk and dawn every day. It so happened that he could not return to Lanka before sunset and set the deity down before commencing his evening ritual. It is then inferred that the idol bonded to the soil of the earth and could not be displaced by anybody and from then on it has stayed put right here in our very own Sri Rangam. The best way to worship the idols at Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple is by taking all the time in the world by traversing through the acres of land consisting of towers aplenty with multitude of shrines. One should definitely ensure not to miss the Ramanuja Shrine (Udayavar Sannidhi) where the mortal remains of the holy saint is preserved to this day using natural substances such as sandalwood and saffron. Ramanujacharya was said to be born in 1017 and died at the ripe age of 120 in 1137. Since then for the last 888 years as of 2025, his soul has remained still intact in a seated position. Application of camphor & vermilion on his body twice a year gives his holy presence an ochre (orangish yellow brown) tint. It is gravity defying and has to be seen to be believed.
Divya Desam # - 1
Vishnu Name - Ranganatha Perumal
Lakshmi Name - Ranganayaki Thayar
Sri Purushottaman Perumal Temple (Uthamar Kovil), Thirukkarambanoor
This is a rare Vaishnava temple dedicated to the Trimurtis of Hinduism viz Lord Vishnu - the preserver of the universe, Lord Shiva - the destroyer of the universe and Lord Brahma - the creator of the universe. This is 3rd on the list of the Divya Desams. The God Vishnu here also is in reclining form and termed as Sri Purushottaman Perumal and his consort goes by the name of Poornavali Thayar. It is also known as Bhikshandar Kovil as Lord Shiva was relieved of his doshas. This temple also talks about husband & wife living in unity and understanding termed as "Uthamba" meaning best, so it also came to be known as Uthamar Kovil. Lord Vishnu is said to have emerged as a Kadamba tree to test the devotion of Lord Bramma and hence this place also goes by the name of Kadhambanur or Karambanur.
Divya Desam # - 3
Vishnu Name - Purushottaman Perumal
Lakshmi Name - Poornavali Thayar
Sri Appakudathan Perumal Temple, Thirupper Nagar
The name of the Vishnu God here is Sri Appakkudathaan Perumal again seen in a sleeping posture and he is seen with his consort Sri Kamalavalli Thayar. This is 6th on the list of the Divya Desams. The temple is one of the five Pancharanga Kshetrams, a group of five Hindu temples on the banks of the River Kaveri. Appam is a popular sweet dish prepared here in the temple daily as Neivedya and legend has it that Perumal got the name as Appakudathan since he received a pot of Appam from King Upamanyu.
Divya Desam # - 6
Vishnu Name - Appakudathan Perumal
Lakshmi Name - Kamalavalli Thayar
Sri Vadivazhagiya Nambi Perumal Temple, Thiru Anbil
This is another Vishnu seen in a reclining avatar and here he goes by the name of Sundara Raja Perumal and the Goddess is referred to as Sri Sundaravalli Thayar. This temple comes as the 5th of the Divya Desams. Vadiva Azhagiya or Sundara means "Beautiful" and it is believed that Lord Vishnu came as a handsome young man in front of Lord Brahma and mentioned that his physical appearance is just temporary and one has to be good at heart.
Divya Desam # - 5
Vishnu Name - Sundararaja Perumal
Lakshmi Name - Sundaravalli Thayar
Sri Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple, Thiruvellarai
The God Vishnu goes by the name of Pundarikakshan and the Goddess name is Pankajavalli Thayar. This is 4th on the list of Divya Desams. 'Pundari' denotes beautiful eyes and the Lord is said to be possessing enchanting eyes. Here, you would see Lord Vishnu in a standing posture with the Sun and Moon spanning the Lord on left & right and seated along on both sides are Markandeya Rishi and Bhooma Devi doing penance for the world. In this temple you would also witness Garuda in standing posture and Adishesha in a Manly avatar. This temple is said to be built by Sibi Chakravarthy.
Divya Desam # - 3
Vishnu Name - Pundarikaksha Perumal
Lakshmi Name - Pankajavalli Thayar
Pancha Bhoota Sthalam refers to 5 temples designated to Lord Shiva pertaining to the 5 primordial elements of nature viz Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. From the name it can be figured out that Pancha means "5", Bhoota refers to "element" and Sthala denotes "place". All these temples are located in South India with 4 of them being in Tamil Nadu (Earth, Water, Fire & Ether) and the remaining one representing Air element located in Andhra Pradesh. The 5 Pancha Sthalas are as listed below:
Earth - Ekambareshwar Temple - Kanchipuram - Tamil Nadu
Water - Jambukeshwarar Temple - Trichy - Tamil Nadu
Fire - Annamalaiyar Temple - Tiruvannamalai - Tamil Nadu
Air - Sri Kalahasti Temple - Kalahasti - Andhra Pradesh
Ether - Thillai Natarajar Temple - Chidambaram - Tamil Nadu
Jambukeshwarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval
During our visit to Trichy, we got an opportunity to visit the magnificent Jambukeshwarar Temple dedicated to the Water element. 'Water' is often referred to as the universal solvent and has a major bearing to do with one's personal emotions, feelings, intuitions and flow of creativity. Hence it was a blessing to worship at this temple. Also this temple is said to be associated with Pooradam or Poorva Ashada Nakshatra because its Devata is said to be Apah - The God of Water. The main deities here are Shiva who goes by the name "Jambukeshwara" and his consort Parvathi who takes the name of "Akilandeshwari". Legend has it that the sanctum of Jambukeswara has an underground water stream which in spite of pumping water out is always filled with water. The folklore goes like Parvathi mocking Shiva for his deep penance for which Shiva condemns her act and sends her to Earth in order to do penance. Goddess Akilandeshwari realising her folly is believed to have performed penance to atone her mistake. It is said that she found the Jambu forest (Thiruvanaikoil) to conduct her penance and made a lingam out of the water from river Kaveri under the Venn Naaval tree and commenced her worship. The lingam is said to be known as Appu Lingam.
Nature Element - Water
Shiva Name - Jambukeshwara
Parvathi Name - Akilandeshwari
Arulmigu Mariamman Temple, Samayapuram Apart from all the homage towards Lord Vishnu & the Divya Desams and also visiting the Shiva water element temple, we were also fortunate to receive honourable Mariamma's blessings showered upon us at Samayapuram. It was a massive temple that was packed to the rafters. We bought the necessary essentials to gift her such as flowers, a pair of eyes stickers (known to cure eye related issues), a Thali charadu (yellow thread) and waded through the long queue to get a magical glimpse of her. The aura around the sanctum felt very energetic with a powerful vibe prevalent throughout. The deity Mariamman is said to be a supreme form of Kali//Durga/Adi Shakthi and made of sand, clay and medicinal herbs unlike many of the traditional stone idols.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Footprints, Sri Rangam
The blessings continued to pour thanks largely to my blessed friend who being a supreme Krishna Bhakt, whose bonding towards the Lord has no bounds and is unconditionally pure insisted on visiting the abode of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna during the late 15th and early 16th century. That was like the harbinger for many superlative things to follow. The Pujari there who had been maintaining this small shrine regaled us with stories glorifying on the Lord and he was also instrumental in accompanying and giving us interesting anecdotes during our visit to few of the Divya Desams. Got to learn more about the legend of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from both my friend and the Pujari along with also receiving an English translated copy of the Bhagawad Gita which felt very gratifying. It is believed that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is strongly considered to be Krishna himself laid his footprints on the holy town of Sri Rangam spending 4 months over there in the year 1510 where he observed Chaturmasya Vrata on the banks of the River Kaveri.
Sri Jagannath Mutt, Sri Rangam
Through our conversation with the Pujari at the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu shrine, one thing led to another and we also received the information of a Jagannath Mutt being located nearby at North Chitrai street by the side of Sri Rangam temple paying obeisance to Lord Jagannath. This place also gained extra prominence and propitiousness when we heard that this was the very same place where Mahaprabhu actually spent his time in Srirangam over 500 years back in 1510. There was no way we could miss this and hence decided to pay our reverence at this holy habitat too.
On the whole it was a momentous, memorable and mystical Mandir yatra. We covered plethora of temples over our 2 day stay and the best part of the whole visit was that nothing at all appeared rushed. It was not just us but even the holy idols which we carried in the form of 'Adishesha' and 'Anantha' also obtained boundless blessings. We got all the time to wing our way through, soak in, immerse and feel the divine in all it's splendour without ever thinking about the time at hand. It felt like as if the divine personally accompanied us everywhere making all the necessary arrangements along the way. We just went with the flow with almost every single decision taken just at that opportune moment and it paved the way for us to get enshrined with majestic blessings all the way through his divine enclosures.
P.S: Please note that majority of the pictures and selective capsules of information pertaining to the history, lineage & culture of the temples have been sourced from the net. Credits to the original sharers and outlets.
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