Tiruvahindrapuram

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Overview · Summary · Description · Location - Accomodations · Picture Tour Deities · Perumal - mulavar, utsavar · Thaayaar · Other shrines - Hayagriva, Rama, acharyas... · Festivals History & Significance · History - Sthala Purana · Alvar paasurams - Tirumangai Alvar · Vedanta Desika - stotras, Desika Prabandham Other · Reader Comments and Suggestions · Article from the Hindu

Other Shrines There are also many subsidiary shrines of great beauty and significance. On Aushada Giri [Medicine Hill] is a shrine to Hayagriva, Lord Hayagriva the horse-faced form of Lord Vishnu who is the God of knowledge. It is said that at the age of twenty, a young Vedanta Desika meditated here on Lord Hayagriva and secured His blessings. In Lord Hayagriva's sannidhi are Lakshmi Hayagriva, Yoga Hayagriva (pictured on the left), Yoga Narasimha, Venugopala, and Garuda. In addition, the Hayagriva vigraha said to have been worshipped by Desika graces devotees in Devanatha's sannidhi. The shrine dedicated to Krishna as the youthful cowherd boy of Brindavana is also a special one, as it attracted Desika so much that he composed the twenty verses of the Gopala Vimsati in His praise. Of special beauty and majesty are the images of Sri Rama with Sita and Lakshmana on either side, pictured below. The deities here were the inspiration for Desika's masterful prose-poem, the Raghu Veera Gadyam. At the foothills of Aushada Giri is a sannidhi to Sri Anjaneya, facing north. Acharyas There are also sannidhis for all the primary acharyas of the tradition, including Manavaala Maamunigal and Vedanta Desika. Sri Desika's association with this divya desam is discussed on a separate page. Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Anjaneyar (Hanuman) Sri Manavala Maamunigal Festivals The main festivals are the Brahmotsavam for Lord Devanatha, held every year during the month of Cittirai (April-May), and Sri Desika's tirunakshatram held during the month of Purattasi (September-October). Other important utsavams are the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival during the Margazhi-Tai (December-February) months extending for 30 days, the Masi-Makam (sea bath) at Devanam Pattinam and the Adi Pooram festival. There is generally some form of utsavam or another year-round in this historic temple. [ Previous - Next ]

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