Book Description

About the Book : Temples have always played an important role in the lives of Hindus in the country from times immemorial. Apart from providing spiritual solace, temples have also been repositories of art and architecture and been instrumental in community bonding. For the sake of identification and ease of worship, the formless God has been given many iconic forms, in fact thousands of them. A pilgrimage to these temples to worship these icons is a way of life for most Hindus. These iconic forms have been classified into various categories like Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti etc which are spread across the length and breadth of the country. While we have many shrines with history and antiquity behind them, there are many temples which are of recent origin. Temples have always been patronized by the kings and rulers of various regions and also by the general public. Among the more popular iconic forms of God is Lord Vishnu or Narayana who is worshipped at innumerable Srivaishnava temples all over the country. These Srivaishnava temples include the 108 Divya Desams which are shrines worshipped and glorified by the great saints like Azhwars whose hymns have been compiled into the Divyaprabandham. While some of these temples are well known and located in large towns, there are many which are located in remote places and not easily accessible. Interestingly, a vast majority of these shrines are located in South India with a few scattered across North and Western India. Many of these temples are small and do not have enough resources for their upkeep and maintenance. A few philanthropists and others have contributed for the renovation of many of these temples but much more is required to be done. The reason for initiating this series is to give a first-hand account of the author's visits to these shrines in a travelogue format with plenty of pictures so that our youngsters are drawn towards these temples. Once more pilgrims visit these places, the infrastructure there is bound to improve and with increased awareness, the contributions to these temples will also increase to take care of their maintenance. These 108 temples are located in several clusters and accordingly, it is proposed to cover all these temples in this series in 7 volumes. Volume One which was released earlier covered the Divya Desam shrine of Thiru Singavel Kundram at Ahobilam. Volume Two which is being released now covers 21 out of the 40 Divya Desam shrines in Chozha Naadu. It is hoped that this pictorial journey will create an interest amongst travellers to plan to visit the 108 Divya Desam. Chozha Naadu is a region in Tamil Nadu comprising several districts in the Kaveri river delta. It is bounded in the north by Thondai Naadu and in the south by Pandya Naadu. There are 40 Divyadesams in Chozha Naadu which can be accessed from the towns of Trichy, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi and Chidambaram. This volume covers 21 out of the 40 Divya Desams in Chozha Naadu while the remaining shrines will be covered in the next volume. We start with the Divya Desam shrines in Trichy and then move on to the temples in Thanjavur, Kumbakonam and Nagapattinam. All these shrines are easily approachable by road. As we travel from one temple to the next, the pictures taken at each temple along with the accompanying text will leave you with memories that can only be equalled by taking time out to go and visit each one of them. About the Author : The author, Jagadeesan Krishnan, an intrepid traveller and heritage enthusiast has visited many temples over the years. His desire to visit and worship the Lord at the Srivaishnava 108 Divya Desams took shape about three years back and since then, he has been fortunate to visit over 80 of these shrines and hopefully visit the remaining shrines very soon.