We had earlier covered details about Veera Sudarshana Sri Anjaneya Temple, of Adhanur Divya Desam of ‘Andu Alakkum Ayyan’ temple, located in Papanasam taluk, Thanjavur District. Kindly revisit the page on the ‘Andu Alakkum Ayyan’temple .for details on Sri Sudarshana Anjaneya.
There are a few Divya Desam located between River Cauvery and Cullrum. Sri Rangam is one of the most important ones among them. We brought out the similarities between ‘Andu alakkum ayyan’ Divya Desam and Sri Rangam in the above-mentioned pages. Not far away [around fifteen kilometers] from Andu Alakkum Ayyan temple, there is another Divya Desam on the banks of River Cauvery located in Vadakurangaduthari. The presiding deity is Sri Jakth Rakshaka Perumal [in Tamil Vaiyam Katha Perumal] or more popularly Aaduthurai Perumal.
Sri Jakth Rakshaka Perumal
Mythological, to slay the demon Hiranyaksha who was in the netherworld, Maha Vishnu descended in the form of boar-Varsha. To get Hiranyaksha, he pierced into the netherworld by splitting the earth and came out of the earth at a place called Srimushnam. Thus the world [Jakath in Sanskrit, Vaiyam in Tamil] was saved [Rakhaka in Sanskrit, Katha in Tamil] by the Lord from the demon and evil forces. Sri Tirumangai Azwar, the twelveth Azwar had sung in praise of the deity of this kshetra mentioning this event enacted by the Lord. Thus the Lord of this kshetra is known by the name Sri Jakth Rakshaka Perumal in Tamil Vaiyam Katha Perumal.
This great act of the Lord was of great relief for all rishis, devatas, daityas, danavas, serpents, gandharvas, yakshas, and apsaras. All of them with their kinkaras came to this kshetra and worshipped the Lord. The assemblage of these great people is called ‘kooduvathu’. Hence this kshetra got the name ‘Thirukkoodaloor’.
There is another legend that says that King Ambarishan cursed by sage Durvasar got rid of the curse after worshipping Lord Vishnu of this kshetra. Hence Lord of this kshetra is also known as Ambarisha Varadhar. It is believed that Ambarishan had built the first temple at this kshetra. Later the kings of the Chola dynasty and other rulers improved upon it.
Kaveri River floods
Once there were floods in Kaveri [in Tamil parlance it is known as ‘Kaveri pralayam’ meaning Kaveri deluge] and the areas near this place were washed away. There were many temples in and around this area that got washed away at that time. This temple is one among them along with other divya desam Andu Alakkum Ayyan of Adhanur also affected by these floods. The Adhanur Divya Desam was rebuilt by the Raja of Kashmir.
Rani Mangammal of Madurai
After Kaveri Pralayam, Rani Mangammal of Madurai reconstructed this Divya Desam temple. The huge tall compound wall ‘thirumathil’ constructed around this temple to protect the temple from future damage is an indicator of this effort.
During the flood, the whole temple was washed away. After the flood receded, the presiding deity, processional deity, and ma Lakshmi vigrahas taken away in floods were found by the fishermen in the Kaveri at a distance. Meanwhile, Rani Mangammal of Madurai had a dream in which the Lord appeared and gave direction to rebuild the temple at this kshetra.
She along with her lieutenant came on a tour to the flood-affected areas, she camped there to decide on building a new temple, since the earlier one had been completely lost in the flood. She recovered the processional deities and deity Lakshmi from the fishermen and built the temple at the spot indicated by the divine.
After Kaveri Pralayam, Rani Mangammal of Madurai reconstructed this Divya Desam temple. The huge tall compound wall ‘thirumathil’ constructed around this temple to protect the temple from future damage is an indicator of this effort.
The presiding deity of the temple is on the other bank of the river Cauvery in Valoothoor. Till recently chariot called Ambarisha Ratha, renovated by Rani Mangammal, was in use at this temple. There is a statue of the queen Mangammal in the temple.
Sri Anjaneya
The temple in its heyday was thronged by devotees and all the festivals were celebrated. In one of these festive celebrations, Sri Anjaneya had descended on this kshetra to see the devotees in their happiness, and on seeing them the ‘Aananda’ got on to Him also and was in bhava samadhi - a yogic posture.
The separate shrine for ‘Aanantha Anjaneya’ is about 500 yards away from the main temple. Here Lord is seen in a joyful mood laughing in amusement.
Aananda Anjaneya
Lord is seen in standing position facing the Lord of this kshetra in the west direction. In both the lotus feet Lord is seen wearing a nupuram and hallow anklet [thandai]. The decorative waist belt holds the dothi worn with katcham. He is seen with His palms joint offering pranams to His Lord. He is wearing a three-line bead mala close to His neck. He is also seen wearing a long mala on the neck. In his ears, He is wearing a kundal which touches the shoulders. karna puspam ornament is also seen in the ears of the Lord. The tail of the Lord is raised and goes around the head and ends up on the left shoulder with a small curve. His shika is neatly tied as a tuft. Lord’s mouth is slightly open and all the teeth along with two ‘kora pal’ are seen, as Lord is laughing in amusement. Lord's eyes are slightly closed and in a meditative posture.
source: "108 vainava divyadEsa stala varalAru" by vaishnava sudarAzhi Sri A.EthirAjar, karaikudi.
Location of the temple: "Aananda Anjaneya Temple, Thirukkoodaloor, TNadu"
Experience
Happiness is contagious. Lord Sri Aananda Anjaneya is communicating Happiness. Come, visit the kshetra and take the nectar of Aananda.
SRI HANUMAN THINKS DIFFERENTLY, THINKS FAST
THINKS AHEAD AND ACTS FOR SURE
Ed [October 2019]
Updates: [Jan 2025]