Sri :
Dear Sriman Narayana BhakthAs :
A respected member of the group had asked about
AshtAnga VimAnams at ThirukkOshtiyUr , ThirukkUdal ,
UtthiramErUr and also about its Aagamic significance and
whether AshtAnga VimAnams are unique to PerumAL Koils .
I thought that the subject of the VimAnams is a good
one to share some thoughts with you all and invite any
comments .
General Comments about the VimAnams of Dhivya dEsams
****************************************************************************
1. There was a time , when the VimAnams were taller than the Gopurams .
These were mostly at Shiva Temples built during the height of ChOLaa
Kingdom . One Example is that of Bruhadheeswarar temple at ThanjAvUr
built by Raaja Raaja ChOzhan , who ruled between 985-1014 C.E. The kings
wanted to celebrate their victories and for the land to know of them .
The 216 feet ThanjAvur VimAnam with 13 stories is Pyramidal in shape
with a sikhara (cap stone) sitting on top of the pyramid ; this cap stone
is a single piece of granite weighing 81 tons . A cupolic Octagonal dome
( AshtAnga ) has been placed over it . One can speculate that AshtAnga
aspects are linked to Ashta dhig Gajams defending the 8 directions or
ashta Iswaryams or ashta siddhis .
The Gangai Konda ChOzhan(1014-1044 C.E) built a 9 story vimAnam
for Siva at GangaikoNDa ChOzhapuram , which is 185 feet tall ; Raja Raja
ChOzhan II (1046-1073 C.E) built the IrAvatheeswarar temple at
DhArAsuram with a 85 feet tall VimAnam ; KulOtthunga ChOzhan III
( 1178-1218 C.E) built the SivA Temple at Thirubhuvanam , which had
a 130 feet tall VimAnam . These were engineering marvels of their times .
AchArya RaamAnuja ( 1017-1137 C.E ) lived during these ChOLa times .
VaishNavite Temples had taller Gopurams than their VimAnams .
The later day ChOLA kings went back to smaller sized VimAnams
and the PallavAs , PaandyAs , ChALukyAs and VijayaNagara kings
kept their VimAnams shorter than the Gopurams .
The tall SrivilliputthUr Temple Gopuram and the South Gopuram of
Lord RanganAtha at Srirangam built by the 44th Pattam Srimath
Azhagiya Singar are examples , where the main Gopuram is taller
than the VimAnam inside .
2. AshtAnga VimAnams are rather unique to VaishNavaa Temples
perhaps because of the sacred AshtAkshara Manthram of Sriman
NaarAyaNaa .
3. The Famous AshtAnga VimAnams are at ThirukkOttiyUr ,
ThirukkUdal ( Mathurai Koodal Azhagar) , ParamEswara
ViNNagaram(Vaikunta PerumAL Koil , ThiruvAttAru and
ThiruppARkkadal ( celestial ) dhivya dEsams .
3.1: The garbha graham at ThirukkOttiyUr has 4 storeys
( Ground Floor : Sayana PerumAL ) ; First floor ( NinRa
ThirukkOlam ); Second Floor ( Seated ThirukkOlam )
and below ground floor.basement ( Natana KrishNan ).
3.2: Mathurai Koodal Azhagar has AshtAnga VimAnam and
multiple Sannidhis at different storis like at ThirukkOttiyUr .
3.3 : Vaikunta PerumAL KOil ( ParamEswara ViNNagaram) near Kaanchi
has multiple stories has Sayana ThirukkOla PerumAL in the first floor
of the VimAnam and NinRa ThirukkOla PerumAL on the second floor .
It is a Pallava period koil . Althought he VimAnam is called Mukundha
VimAnam , it is included among the temples with AshtAnga VimAnam .
4. Thiru Parama Padham (Sri Vaikuntam) has AanathAnga VimAnam .
5. Chathuranga Kola VimAnam is at ThiruvallavAzh KolappirAn
sannidhi .
6. Outside the 108 Dhivya dEsams , the UtthiramErUr temple has
AshtAnga VimAnam .
(To Be Continued)
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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