<< Our Photo Pages >> Shri Sangameshvara temple, Bhavani, Tamil Nadu - Ancient Temple in India
Submitted by liesbethpankaja on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 Page Views: 10646
Multi-periodSite Name: Shri Sangameshvara temple, Bhavani, Tamil Nadu Alternative Name: Kooduthurai, MukkoodalCountry: India
NOTE: This site is 9.991 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Bhavani
Latitude: 11.450000N Longitude: 77.680000E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Bhavani is a small town near Erode in Tamil Nadu, India. Here we find the Shri Sangameshvara temple, one of the great ancient and sacred places of South India. The Lord of the Confluence is the English translation of the name of this temple. It is situated where two rivers, the Kaveri and the Bhavani come together.
A confluence is a sacred place but here the two earthly rivers are joined by a third spiritual and heavenly river, the Amritavahini also called Akashaganga, the sacred river of heaven. This is the river of the nectar of immortality. For this reason people perform rites for the ancestors in this place. Its sacredness is similar to the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the Sarasvati at Triveni in North India. The stala vriksha, the sacred tree of the temple is the Ilandhai tree. This place is also especially auspicious for performing ritual baths at the time of solar and lunar eclipses. Great crowds will gather during eclipses and at other sacred times. The sacredness of this place was revealed by a voice from the sky to Kubera, the god of wealth while he was traveling is his vimana or flying chariot. According the the sthala purana, the temple’s mythology, the Vedas came into existence here.
At present we find the temple situated on the tip of land where the two rivers Kaveri and Bhavani merge. Just a little further south a modern bridge crosses the Kaveri. Tourists can take rides on the river in coracles, round boats constructed of basket work. The gopuram or temple gateway faces north. The temple can only be approached from the north because of its position on the land-tongue. The main shrine of Lord Amritalingeshvara or Sangameshvara is now a structure dating to the later 19th century. But other parts of the temple were build under the later Cholas (12th – 13th century) and the Nayakas (15th -17th century). Around the compound one finds remnants of earlier structures. 15th century pillars stand here and there and two slabs of what remains or ceilings stand next to the shrine of the goddess.
Several reliefs in the complex show the importance of solar and lunar eclipses, especially for this place. One of the slabs in the courtyard depicts two cobras or dragons about to devour the solar and lunar disk. Between them is an elaborate lotus medallion. The solar disk is flanked by a pair of parrots, the lunar disk by a pair of peacocks. The slab next to it depicts a pair of tigers flanking a lotus medallion may also be eclipse related. Further we find depictions of eclipses, where cobras approach a solar and lunar disk often flanking a lotus medallion, on the ceiling and the walls of the gopuram and on the ceiling of the Ganesha shrine. Also the ceiling of the Mukha Mandapa of the Devi shrine is probably eclipse related.
For a complete discussion please read the article by Raja Deekshithar Mysterious Pavilion 2, The wonder continues on Asian Art.
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