Temple
Ramanathaswamy Temple
( Rāmanātasvāmi Kōyil) is a Hindu temple
dedicated to the god Shiva located on
Rameswaram island in the state of Tamil
Nadu, India. It is also one of the twelve
Jyotirlinga temples. It is one of the 275
Paadal Petra Sthalams, where three of the most revered Nayanars (Saivite saints),
Sambandar, have glorified the temple with
their songs. The temple was expanded
during the 12th century by the Pandya
Dynasty, and its principal shrine’s sanctum
was renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan
and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan, monarchs of the Jaffna kingdom. The temple has the longest corridor among all
Hindu temples in India. It was built by King
Muthuramalinga Sethupathiy. [1] [2] The
temple, located in Rameswaram, is considered a holy pilgrimage site for
Shaivites, Vaishnavites and Smarthas.
Mythological accounts depict the
presiding deity, the Lingam of
Ramanathaswamy (Shiva), as having been
established and worshiped by Rama,
before he crossed his bridge to the
present-day island of Sri Lanka. It is one of
the Char Dham pilgrimage sites.
Arulmigu Sri Ramanathaswamy Thirukoil
Religion
District
Ramanadhaswamy
(Shiva) Parvatavardini
(Parvati)
Location
State
Country
Architecture
Type
Creator
Pandya and Jaffna
kings
Rameswaram
Badrinath
Legend
According to Hindu epic Ramayana, Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu,
prayed to Shiva here to absolve any sins
that he might have committed during his
war against the demon-king Ravana in Sri
Lanka. According to the Puranas (Hindu scriptures), upon the advice of sages,
Rama along with his wife Sita and his
brother Lakshmana, installed and
worshipped the lingam(an iconic symbol
of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of
Brahmahatya incurred while killing Ravana
(who was a Brahmin and son of Vishrava).
To worship Shiva, Rama directed his
trusted lieutenant Hanuman (avatar of Shiva himself) to bring it from Himalayas.
Since it took longer to bring the lingam,
Sita built a lingam made of sand from the
nearby seashore, which is also believed to
be the one in the sanctum of the temple.
This account is well supported by the
original Ramayana authored by Valmiki
where it is written in Yudha Kanda.
According to another version, as quoted in
Adhyatma Ramayana, Rama installed the
lingam before the construction of the
bridge to Lanka .
History
A historic image of the temple
corridor. The corridor is the longest
for any Hindu temple in India
A modern image of the temple
corridor
The temple in its current form is believed
to have been built during the 17th century,
while Fergusson believes the small vimana
in the west corridor belongs to the 11th or
12th century. [3] The temple is said to have
been sanctioned for construction by King
Kizhavan Sethupathi or Raghunatha
Kilavan. The contribution of the Jaffna
kings of Pandya Dynasty to the temple
was considerable.[4] King Jeyaveera
Cinkaiariyan (1380–1410 CE) shipped
stone blocks from Koneswaram temple,
Trincomalee to renovate the temple's sanctum sanctorum. Jeyaveera
Cinkaiariyan's successor Gunaveera
Cinkaiariyan (Pararacacekaran V), a
trustee at Rameswaram who also oversaw
structural development of this temple and
the promotion of Saivite beliefs donated
part of his revenue to Koneswaram.
Especially to be remembered are the
immense sums that were spent during the
tenure of Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai
towards the restoration of the Pagodas
which were falling into ruins and the
splendid Chockattan Mantapam or the
cloistered precincts of the temple at
Rameswaram that he finally completed.
The rulers of Sri Lanka also contributed to
the temple; Parakrama Bahu (1153–1186
CE) was involved in the construction of the
sanctum sanctorum of the temple.[4] Also,
Sri Lankan king Nissanka Malla,
contributed to the temple's development
by making donations and sending
workers.[5]
Pappakudi a village was donated as a
grant to Rameshwaram Temple and one
Deva Venkala Perumal Ramanathar in
(1667 CE) by Perumal Servaikaran Son of
Sokkappan Servaikarar who belongs to
Pandiyur. They are local Chieftain under
Tirumalai Regunatha Sethupathy Thevar
Rein in Ramnad Kingdom. The grant
details are published by Government
Press, Madras Presidency for
Archeological Survey of India in 1885.
Along with Pappakudi, Anandur and Urasur
villages are also donated to
Rameshwaram Temple. These Villages
falls under Melaimakani Seermai province
The temple is one of the most famous
pilgrimage sites and has several historical
references about it. The Maratha kings
who ruled Thanjavur established chatrams or rest houses throughout Mayiladuthurai
and Rameswaram between 1745 and 1837
CE and donated them to the temple. [7]
Image of the east and west temple towers
The primary deity of the temple is
Ramanathaswamy (Shiva) in the form of
lingam. [2] There are two lingams inside the sanctum - According to tradition, one built
by Rama from sand, residing as the main
deity, called the Ramalingam, and the one
brought by Hanuman from Kailash, called
the Vishvalingam. [8][4] Rama is said to have
instructed that the Vishvalingam be
worshipped first since it was brought by
Hanuman - the tradition continues even
today.[4]
Like all ancient temples in South India,
there is a high compound wall (madil) on
all four sides of the temple premises
measuring about 865 feet furlong from
east to west and one furlong of 657 feet
from north to south with huge towers
(Gopurams) to the east and the west and finished gate towers to the north and
south. The temple has striking long
corridors in its interior, running between
huge colonnades on platforms above five
feet high. [3]
The second corridor is formed by
sandstone pillars, beams, and ceiling. The
junction of the third corridor on the west
and the paved way leading from the
western gopuram to the Setumadhava
shrine forms a unique structure in the form
of a chess board, popularly known as
Chokkattan Madapam, where the Utsava
deities are adorned and kept during the
Vasanthotsavam (Spring festival) and on the 6th day festival in Adi (July–August)
and Masi (February–March) conducted by
the Sethupathi of Ramnad.
The outer set of corridors is reputed to be
the longest in the world, measuring about
6.9 m in height, 400 feet each in the east
and west and about 640 feet in the north
and the south. The inner corridors are
about 224 feet each in the east and the
west and about 352 feet each in the north
and the south.[9] Their width varies from
15.5 feet to 17 feet in the east and west
about 172 feet on the north and south with
width varying 14.5 feet to 17 feet. [4][9] The
total length of these corridors is thus 3850
feet. There are about 1212 pillars in the
outer corridor.[9] Their height is about 30
feet from the floor to the center of the
roof. The main tower or rajagopuram is 53
m tall. [2] Most pillars are carved with
individual compositions.[9] At the
beginning, Ramanathaswamy Temple was
a thatched shed. The present structure
was the work of many individuals spread
over a number of centuries. The pride of
place in the establishment of the Temple
goes to the Setupatis of
Ramanathapuram. In the seventeenth
century, Dalavai Setupati built a portion of
the main eastern Gopuram. In the late
eighteenth century, the world-famous third
corridor was constructed by
Muthuramalinga Setupati who lived for
forty-nine years and ruled between 1763
and 1795. The corridor was called
"Chokkatan Mandapam". The Mukhya
Pradhani (Chief Minister) was
Muthuirullappa Pillai and the Chinna
Pradhani (Deputy Chief Minister) was
Krishna Iyengar. The Setupati's statue and
those of his two Pradhanis (ministers) can
be seen at the western entrance to the
third corridor.
The composite columns of Virabhadra
holding sword and horn are found be
additions of the Vijayanagara kings during
the early 1500s. Similar columns of
Virabhadra are found in Adikesava
Perumal Temple at Thiruvattaru,
Meenakshi Temple at Madurai, Nellaiappar
Temple at Tirunelveli, Kasi Viswanathar
temple at Tenkasi, Krishnapuram
Thadikombu, Srivilliputhur Andal temple,
Srivaikuntanathan Permual temple at
Srivaikuntam, Avudayarkovil, Vaishnava
Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar
temple at Thirukkurungudi.[10]
There are separate shrines for
Ramanathaswamy and his consort
goddess Parvathavardhini separated by a
corridor. [3] There are separate shrines for
the goddess Vishalakshi, the utsava images, sayanagriha, Vishnu and Ganesha.
The samadhi of the great Yogi Patanjali is said to be at this temple and there is a
separate shrine for him here. There are
various halls inside the temple, namely
Anuppu Mandapam, Sukravara
Mandapam, Setupati Mandapam, Kalyana
Mandapam, and Nandi Mandapam.
Temple Tanks
Agni Theertham - the primary sea shore associated with the temple
There are sixty-four Tīrthas (holy water
bodies) in and around the island of
Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India. [11]
According to Skānda Purāṇa, twenty-four
of them are important.[12] Bathing in these
Tīrthas is a major aspect of the pilgrimage
to Rameswaram and is considered
equivalent to penance.[13] Twenty-two of
the Tīrthas are within the
Rāmanāthasvāmī Temple. [14] The number 22 indicates the 22 arrows in Rama's
quiver.[8] The first and major one is called
Agni Theertham, the sea (Bay of Bengal). [2]
Rameswaram is one of the few temples
that has the distinction of being the stala,
Murthy, Theertham. Ramanathaswamy
Temple Theertham is very special. There
are 22 theerthams in the form of a pond
and a well. These 22 theerthams represent
the 22 arrows of Sri Rama.[15]
Significance today
Char Dham
Adi Sankara, the Guru of Advaita, who is believed to have started the Char Dhams
The temple is one of the holiest Hindu
Char Dham (four divine sites) sites
comprising Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka and
Rameshwaram. [16] Though the origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school of
Hinduism established by Sankaracharya,
who created Hindu monastic institutions
across India, attributes the origin of Char
Dham to the seer.[17] The four monasteries
lie across the four corners of India and
their attendant temples are Badrinath
Temple at Badrinath in the North,
Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East,
Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka in the
West and Ramanathaswamy Temple at
Rameswaram in the South. The temples
are revered by the various spiritual
traditions of Hinduism, such as Saivism
and Vaishnavism. The Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair.[18] There
are four abodes in the Himalayas called
Chota Char Dham ( Chota meaning small):
Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and
Yamunotri - all of these lie at the foothills of Himalayas. [19] The name Chota was
added during the mid of 20th century to
differentiate the original Char Dhams.[2]
The journey across the four cardinal points
in India is considered sacred by Hindus
who aspire to visit these temples once in
their lifetime. [20] Traditionally the trip starts
at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding in
clockwise direction in a manner typically
followed for circumambulation in Hindu
temples. [20]
Jyotirlinga
As per the Shiva Purana, once, Brahma
(the god of creation) and Vishnu (the god
of preservation) had an argument in terms
of their supremacy in creation. [21] To settle
their dispute, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge and endless pillar of light
called the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma
split their ways downwards and upwards
respectively to find the end of the light in
either directions. Brahma lied that he
discovered the end of the pillar in his
direction, while Vishnu conceded his
defeat. Shiva cursed Brahma that he would
have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu
would be worshipped till the end of
eternity. The jyotirlinga is regarded to be
the supreme partless reality, out of which
Shiva partly appears. The jyotirlinga
shrines are believed to be the places
where Shiva is said to have appeared as a
fiery column of light. [20][22] Originally, there
were believed to have been 64 jyotirlingas,
of which the present 12 are considered to
be sacred to Shiva. [21] Each of the twelve
jyotirlinga sites take the name of the
presiding deity - each considered a
different manifestation of Shiva.[23] At all
these sites, the primary image is the
lingam representing the stambha pillar, symbolising the infinite nature of Shiva
(without beginning or end). [23][24][25] The
twelve jyotirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat,
Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra
Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in
Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya
Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas,
Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath
Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra,
Vaidyanath at Deoghar in Jharkhand,
Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat,
Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil
Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad,
Maharashtra.[21][26] This temple is the
southernmost of all the twelve
Jyotirlingas. [27]
In the news
The temple priests are Marathi Brahmins
of Maharashtra who get Diksha from
Sringeri Mutt. [28] A shortage of priests has been reported in recent years as there are
only five priests to manage the 13 shrines
within the temple. [28] The shortage is more
pronounced during the 12-day Maha
Shivaratri festival when the festival deities
of the temple are taken in procession. [28]
The temple is maintained and
administered by the Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowments Department of the
Government of Tamil Nadu. [29] The temple comes under the renovation and
consecration of the 630 temples planned
by the Hindu Religious and Charitable
Government of Tamil Nadu. [30] Temple authorities had planned to renovate and
widen the pathways to the 22 holy
theerthams of the temple.[30] The
consecration of the temple was planned
during 2013. [30] The temple is among
those offering free meals under the Free
Meals Scheme of the government, which
provides meals to devotees of the temple.
A pilgrim house is planned by the
government to extend the scheme to more
pilgrims. [30]
