Sri Gajendra Varadha Perumal Temple

Overview

The temple is located in Kabisthalam village in Thanjavur. It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and also one of the 108 Divya Desam Temples.

About The Temple

This temple was built by the Chola Kings in the 8th century AD and was later contributed by Vijayanagar kings and Madurai Nayakars. Legend goes that King Indrajuman, the great devotee of Lord Vishnu, involved himself in worshipping Lord Vishnu, and this led to lose his kingdom. Upon everything, he continued worshipping Lord Vishnu with an immense concentration on meditation. And he did not notice the Sage Durvasar who passed by, when he was in deep mediation. The sage got angry by the ignorance of the king and cursed the king that the he would be born as an elephant in his next birth. When the king asked the sage to forgive him, the sage said that even as an elephant he would still be a devotee of Lord Vishnu and HE would relieve him of his curse. Another legend is that, there was a demon named Koohoo who resides in the temple tank went on troubling the people by pulling their legs when they come to take bath in the temple tank. And he did the same for the Sage named Lord Agasthyar. The Sage got angry and cursed the demon to become a crocodile and said he would be relieved of his curse when the discus of Lord Vishnu hit the body of the crocodile (the demon Koohoo) to save an elephant. As the sage said the crocodile (the demon) grabbed the leg of the elephant (the king Indrajuman) when came to drink water in the temple tank, the elephant with unbearable pain cried and called Lord Vishnu by the name Lord Adhimoolam. Lord Vishnu threw His discus on the crocodile (the demon) to save the elephant named Gajendra (the King). Both the elephant and crocodile attained salvation and turned to their original form by the blessings of Lord Vishnu. Hence, Lord Vishnu appeared to save the life of Gajendra (the elephant), He came to be popularly known as Lord Gajendra Varadar.

About The deity

The main deity in this temple is Lord Gajendra Varadhar (Lord Vishnu), in a reclining posture.The other deities of this temple are Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu worshipped as Goddess Ramanavalli, Lord Yoga Narasimhar, Lord Sudarsana, Garuda(the vehicle of Lord Vishnu) and the Azhwars. The roof tower which is situated above the sanctum is popularly called as Ganganakrutha vimanam which represents the architecture of medieval period. Unlike other temples, the Gajendra Varadha Perumal Temple is surrounded by brick walls enclosing all the shrines. The Rajagopuram (the temple tower) of the temple has a five-tiered structure, constructed in a Dravidian style of architecture. Sri Gajendra Varadha Perumal Temple is considered as one of the Pancha-Kannan Kshetram (five holy shrines) where Lord Krishna, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu given more priority than the presiding deity of the respective temples.

Legend and Stories

According to legend, King Indrajuman immersed himself in the worship of Lord Vishnu. He failed to strengthen his army and lost his kingdom to enemies. One day while doing worship, Indrajuman did not notice the sage Durvasa who came to see Indrajuman. The sage got angry and cursed the king to be born as an elephant in his next birth. Upon apologizing, sage Durvasa took pity on Indrajuman and blessed Indrajuman that he would continue to be a Vishnu devotee as an elephant and Vishnu would relieve him of the curse and attain salvation. In his next birth, Indrajuman, who was born as the elephant Gajendra continued as a Vishnu devotee. One day while drinking water from the temple tank, his leg was grabbed by the crocodile Koohoo, who was a demon, who troubled all who took bath in the tank. Kohoo was cursed by a sage to be born as crocodile in his next birth. The elephant cried in pain, calling the name Aadhimoolame and Vishnu sent his discus to fend off the crocodile. Both the elephant and crocodile turned to their human form by the grace of Vishnu. Since Vishnu appeared to save the elephant Gajendra, he came to be known as Gajendra Varadar. According to another legend, Lord Hanuman also worshiped Vishnu at this place and hence the place came to be known as Kabisthalam (kabi in Tamil indicated monkey).

Festivals

The festivals that are celebrated in this temple include Aadi Poornima Gajendra Moksha Leela in July-August; Car festival on Vaikasi Viskam in May-June; Brahmmotsavam and all Lord Vishnu related festivals are celebrated in the temple

Pooja Timings

Ushathkala Pooja – 7 a.m.

Kalasanthi Pooja – 8:00 a.m.

Uchikala Pooja – 12:00 p.m.,

Sayarakshai Pooja – 6:00 p.m.

Irandamkala Pooja – 7:00 p.m.

Ardha Jamam Pooja – 8:00 p.m.

Significance

The devotees have only to call the loudly “Aadhimoolame”. All their grievances will be redressed and wishes granted

Nearby Place To Visit

Agastheeswarar Temple

Kasinathaswami Temple

Tennazhagar Temple

Krishnaswami Temple

Neelamaninathaswami Temple

Accessibility

A full-fledged Air Force Station is operational at Thanjavur which has several Fighter (aircraft) including Sukhoi jets. The Air Force Station is set to start function as a major Air base. The nearest INTERNATIONAL Airport is the Tiruchirapalli International Airport which is about 50 km from the city. Thanjavur railway station is an important railway junction of Southern Railways. Thanjavur is connected by rail with most important CITIES and towns in India like Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Ernakulam, Trissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur, Tiruchirapalli, Salem, Karur, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Rameswaram, Tiruchendur, Karaikal, Dharmapuri and weekly trains to Vishakapatnam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Goa, Vizianagaram, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar and to all main cities. Thanjavur is well-connected with Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Karaikal, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kumbakonam, Pattukkottai, Bangalore, Ernakulam, Marthandam, Nagercoil, Tirupathi, Thiruvananthapuram, Ooty and Mysore through regular bus services.

Temple Address

Sri Gajendra Varadan Temple,
Kabisthalam,
Thanjavur - 614 203.