Maamani Temple

Overview   The Thanjai Mamani temple, located five kilometres north of Thanjavur on the banks of River Vennar is the temple complex of three Vishnu temples which together make up one divya desam referred to as Thanjai Mamani Kovil. Veera Narsimha Perumal, Manikundra Perumal and Neelamegha Perumal are the Gods of the three temples, who reign over Thanjavur, the land of the Cholas.   About the temple   There are three temples in the same premises, within 200 meters of each other - Thanjai Mamani Kovil, Thanjai Manikundra Perumal Kovil and Thanjai Yali Kovil. All these temples constitute a single divya desam. During the period of the Alwars and Yamunacharya, this temple was as big as a huge castle. It is stated in Brahmanda Purana that after the God appeared in this place, Kubera asked Vishwakarma, the celestial architect, to build a city there. Vishwakarma built a beautiful city in the shape of Garuda. The God is known as the protector of Thanjavur. In the three temples He is seen in sitting posture with His consorts Sri Devi and Bhudevi. The Thanjai Yali temple gets its name after the God who killed the Yali Gajamukha.   The pond in the temple is known as Amritha Theertha. Worship is performed by devout brahmanas according to the Vaiskhanasa form of worship (descended from Sage Vaikhanasa). The temple complex is small yet magnificent. The temple administration is vested with the erstwhile Maharaja of Thanjavur.   About the deity   The God is seen as Narasimha with Sri Devi and Bhudevi. The Deity is extremely beautiful and His hand is placed on a Yali elephant. There is a small deity of Gajamukha praying to the God. The festival Deity is Narsimha with Sri Devi, Bhudevi and Mahalakshmi. There is a Deity of Chakratalwar (Sudarshana) in the temple. In the Thanjai Mamani Kovil, the God is known as Neelamegha Perumal or the God with a bluish hued body resembling clouds. He is seen in sitting posture, holding shanka, and chakra. With one hand He blesses devotees and with another hand He holds the gyana mudra. He is flanked by His consorts on both sides. The utsava vigraha is Narayana Perumal with Sri Devi, Bhudevi and Mahalakshmi. He holds a shenkol or royal sceptre. Sage Parashara can be seen in the altar with hands folded in devotion. There is a Deity of Mahalakshmi in the temple, known as Thanjai Nayaki or the queen of Thanjai.   n the Mani Kundra Perumal Kovil the God seen as the killer of the Thandaka demon. The beautiful God is seen with Sri Devi and Bhudevi in sitting posture. He holds shanka and chakra and blesses the devotees with both His hands. The utsava vigraha is known as Narayana Perumal. There is a beautiful Deity of Mahalakshmi here known as Ambujavalli Thayar.   The prakaram of these temples have Deities of Vishwaksena (the commander-in- chief of the God), Yoga Narsimha, Venugopala Krishna, Hanuman, Lakshmi Narayana, Lakshmi Hayagreeva, God Ranganatha, acharyas and Alwars.   Legend   During the Satya Yuga, the demon king Madhu was blessed with three sons. These three demon brothers were Thanjaka, Thandaka and Gajamukha. These asuras who wanted to control the material world and its comforts, set about trying to achieve this. They concluded that the best way to graduate to the big league was to ask for a boon. They prayed to God Shiva and performed austerities. Because of their severe penance, the earth began to get heated up and the rivers and oceans started to boil. God Shiva immediately appeared before them. It is seen in the Vedic scriptures that most of the demons worship God Brahma and God Shiva in search of material comforts and since all they want are material benefits and not spiritual ones, they seldom approach Vishnu. The three demon brothers asked Shiva for the boon of immortality. God Shiva explained that immortality is given only to selected people by God Vishnu. He further explained that only Bali Maharaja, Vibheeshana Maharaja, Hanuman, Vyasa Muni, Aswathama and Kripacharya have been given this benediction of immortality and admitted his inability to give to them. When the request was denied, most of the demons sought for other powers that they thought would help them attain Godship over the material world. Shiva assured that being the God of annihilation, he would not harm them in any way. These demons with intoxicated mind and body instantly chased the beautiful women of the devaloka and started harassing the rishis and demigods.   Meanwhile, because of the severe penance of the asuras, the entire earth’s heating up had resulted in famine and drought. Sage Parashara began performing penance to please God Vishnu, on the banks of River Vennar. Due to the sattvic nature of his penance, the area where Sage Parashara sat deep in meditation was lush green and remained unaffected by the calamities of famine. Upon hearing about this, demons arrived on this land and started torturing the sage. Sage Parashara prayed to God Vishnu for help and the God sent the Sudarshana Chakra along with Garudadeva to kill the asuras. This is one of the beautiful pastimes of God Vishnu. Whenever a devotee sincerely cries to Him with faith, He immediately appears or sends His representatives to the rescue.Garudadeva and Sudarshana killed all the demons except the three brothers. God Vishnu Himself appeared to do this. The demon Gajamukha appeared as a Yali elephant and entered into battle with the God. It is to be noted that elephants and lions are natural enemies in the world, so the God most vibrantly appeared in the form of Narasimha and killed the demon. Even till today there are many Narsimha temples where elephants are not used in processions. The demon Thandaka dug the earth and went to Patalaloka (the nether world) to hide. God Vishnu appeared as Varahadeva, and, digging the earth with His enormous tusk, He killed the demon. The place where Thandaka was killed came to be known as Thandakaranyam. After killing the demon Thandaka in Patalaloka, the Supreme God Varaha came out of the earth in Srimushnam. There is a magnificent temple of Varahadeva in Srimushnam where a self-manifested Deity of the God is worshipped. The last demon, the eldest of them all, Thanjaka, was killed by the God. It is mentioned in the sthala purana that the demon folded his hands while being killed. The God pardoned him and blessed that the land would be known by his name. This is why the land is known as Thanjavur and the temple there is known as Thanjai Mamani Kovil.   Significance   It is said that if we come around and pray the Narasima and Aanchaneya continuosly for 108 times, all our wishes would be granted immediately.   Accessibility   The Thanjai Mamani Temple can be accessed by...   Air: The nearest airport to reach Thiruvaiyaru is at Tiruchirapalli, which is located at a distance of about 71 km.   Road: Nearest railway station is situated at Thanjavur, which is very well linked to the important cities such as Trichy, Madurai, Coimbatore, Nagore etc.   Rail: There is a direct bus service from Thanjavur, which lies at a distance of 13 km from Thiruvaiyaru.