Temple
The Thirumohoor Kalamegaperumal
Temple (also known as Thirumohoor or
Tirumogoor temple) is a Hindu temple
near Melur, Madurai district in the South
Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to
the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the
Dravidian style of architecture, the temple
is glorified in the Nalayira Divya
Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil
canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th
centuries CE. [1] It is one of the 108 Divya
Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is
worshipped as Kalamega Perumal and his
consort Lakshmi as Mohanavalli Thayar.
As per Hindu legend, the presiding deity is
believed to have appeared as the divine
enchantress Mohini to allure the asuras to support the devas, the celestial deities.
The temple is also known as
Mohanapuram and Mohanakshetram. [2]
Tirumogoor Kalamegaperumal Temple
Thirumohoor Chakaratalvar Temple
Kalamegaperumal
Religion
District
Kalamegaperumal
(Vishnu)
Mohanavalli Thayar
(Lakshmi)
Brahmotsavam
Thirukalyanam
Features
Tower: Kethaki
Vimanam
Temple tank:
Kshirabtha Pushkarini
Location
State
Country
Architecture
Type
Website
kalamegaperumaltemple.tnhrce.in (http://kala
A granite wall surrounds the temple,
enclosing all its shrines and three of its
four bodies of water. The temple has a
five-tiered rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower and a huge temple tank in
front of it. The temple is believed to have
been built by the Pandyas, with later additions from the Madurai Nayaks.
Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals
are held at the temple, of which the
Brahmotsavam, celebrated during the
Tamil month of Vaikasi (April–May), being the most prominent. The temple is
maintained and administered by the Hindu
Religious and Endowment Board of the
Temple tank
As per Hindu legend, once, an asura by the name of Bhasmasura did penance. Shiva
granted him a boon that when he touched
anyone's head, that person would turn to
ashes. Bhasmasura wanted to test the
boon and wanted to touch the head of
Shiva. A bewildered Shiva ran to seek the
favour of Vishnu, who took the form of the
damsel Mohini. She lured Bhasmasura with her dance and made Bhasmasura
touch his head with his hand. The asura
Bhasmasura was thus defeated. The place
where Mohini lured (meaning Moham)
came to be known as Thirumohur.
According to another legend, there was a
war between the devas (gods) and asuras
(demons) before the churning of the
Ocean of Milk for amrita (elixir of eternal
life). The asuras were able to overpower
the devas, and thus the devas sought
Vishnu's help. During the Samudra
Manthanam, Vishnu appeared as Mohini to lure the asuras and denied them the elixir,
allowing the devas to gain the upper hand.
It is believed that Thirumohur is the place
of the event. [3
History
Sangam literature details about this place
being prosperous during the time. The
documentation from Ptolemy (c. CE 100 –
c. 170) also makes reference to this place.
Inscription from the temple - South Outer
wall's inside - Archaeological report on
Epigraphy - 330 of 1918 - and Tamil Nadu
State Archaeology's Madurai District
Inscriptions - Vol. I - page no. 229 - Sl. no.
141 of 2003 - identifies the builder of the
temple as sri Kaala Maegam alias
Kaangaeyan during the reign of Sadaiya
Varman Sundhara Pandiyan (Later Pandiya
king) in his regnal year 7 + 1 (i.e. after the
7th year was over and the eighth year was
in progress) which is identified as CE
1259. This inscription besides identifying
the above speaks of an endowment of
ponds and adjoining areas duly specifying
the boundaries of the land. The current
structure is believed to have been built by
the Madurai Nayaks. During the later part,
there were additions made by the Marudu
brothers, whose images are also housed in
the temple. Thirumohur was an
impregnable fort during the period of
British. During the Carnatic Wars, there was an attempt made by a Muslim
general, but it was repulsed by the local
devotees. The inscriptions from the period
of Nayaks have been recorded by the
Archaeological survey.[3][4]
During Carnatic Wars in 1755, British
general colonel heron looted the idols and
treasures from this temple. When he was
moving away with all treasures with
camels, british force was attacked by
Kallars, who took back the idols and temple treasures.
In memory of this event, even today god in
this temple used to come like a Kallar
man. Also the rights for pulling temple car
given to Kallars of Tirumokur, Poolampatti,
Kodikkulam, Chittampatti, Vovaal Thottam
and Aalinangarai. [5][6][7]
Architecture
The temple is located in Tirumohur, a
village located 20 km (12 mi) away from
Madurai. [8] The temple is situated on a 2.5-acre (10,000 m2) land area, and has a 5
tier rajagopuram. The temple is more than 2000 years old and has been referred to in
akanaṉūṟu, Padhitrupathu, maduraikanchi
and also in one of the five great epics of
Tamil literature, silappatikaram. There are four prakarams (closed precincts of a temple) inside the temple. The main deity
(mulavar) is Kalamegaperumal in
panchayudha kolam and in a standing
posture, Thayar - Mogavalli, Utsavar -
Thirumogur Aabthan, Theertham -
Kshirabtha Pushkarini, Thala Viruksham -
Vilvam and Vimanam - Kethaki Vimanam.
The Prathanasayana appearance of the
main deity is not found anywhere in 108
Divya Desam temples. The temple has a
five-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower).
There are columned pillars in the hall
leading to the Garuda hall, which also has
a small gopuram. The sanctum houses the
shrine of Kalamegha and also has the
images of Bhudevi and Sridevi. The major feature is that the unlike other temples, the
goddesses do not touch the feet of the
presiding deity. A separate shrine
accommodates the image of Anantasayi
Vishnu. The consort of the presiding deity,
Tirumohurvalli (also called Mohanavalli) is
housed in a separate shrine.[3]
To the front of the image of the
Sudarshana Chakra stands the deity Chakratalvar, and present on the back is
Narasingha Perumal, situated amidst 48
apsaras. Inside the six circles that are present, there are 16 weapons with 154
letters present. The letters are believed to
be text from the Bhijakshara Mantra.[9]
Perumal is depicted with 16 hands and
three eyes glowing like fire.[10].
practices
The temple priests perform the puja
(rituals) during festivals and on a daily
basis based on Pancharatra Agama. As at
other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the
priests belong to the Vaishnava
community, from the Brahmin class. The
temple rituals are performed six times a
day: Ushathkalam at 7 a.m., Kalasanthi at
8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m.,
Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at
7:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 10:00 p.m.
Each ritual has three steps: alangaram
(decoration), neivethanam (food offering)
and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for
both Kalamega Perumal and Mohanavalli.
During the last step of worship,
nadasvaram (pipe instrument) and tavil
(percussion instrument) are played,
religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and
worshippers prostrate themselves in front
of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed
in the temple. The major festival is the ten-
day Vaikasi Brammotsavam celebrated
during May–June. The other festivals are
Vaikunta Ekadashi (December–January), Gajendra Moksham during the Masi
Poornima day in February – March, two
day Panguni Thirukalyanam (March–April)
and Krishna Jayanthi.[11]
Literary mention
The temple is glorified in the verses of
Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Tirumangai
Alvar and Nammalvar. The temple is
classified as a Divya Desam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in
the book. Manavala Mamunigal,
Kalamegha Pulavar, Tiruninravur Tirumalai
and Pillai Perumal Iyengar have composed
verses on the deity. Out of the eighteen
Puranas, Brahmanda Purana and Matsya
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