Brief History of the Temple

The sri oppiliappan temple is one of the highly revered ancient temples located in the Thirunageswaram locality of Thanjavur district in Tamilnadu. If the facts are to believed the temple is atleast around 1000-2000 years old with a good possibility that it was constructed back in the Chola Period as the architecture of the temple resembles the Chola period art and craft.

The Mythological connect

The sri oppiliappan temple is having a very interesting mythological story that explains its religious importance. It is been said that the Lord Vishnu appeared on the earth in the form of an old man and asked for the hand of Maharishi Markandeya’s daughter which was none other than the incarnation of Goddess Laxmi and her name was Bhumi Devi who appeared under the Tulsi plants as a boon of Lord Vishnu. Maharishi Markandeya refused to the old man by saying that you are too old and my daughter is too young. He looked to seek the help of Lord Vishnu but later realized that the old man is an incarnation of the Lord Vishnu and thus decided to marry his daughter Bhoomi Devi to him.

Opening time

The temple is opened from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the morning and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the evening seven days a week.

Religious Connect and the Deity

The sri oppiliappan temple is the holy place for the people following the Hindu religion. Lord Vishnu is the major deity in the temple worshipped as the Uppiliappan and Goddess Laxmi is worshipped as the Bhumi Devi, her human incarnation. From various years, people come to the temple to take the blessings of their holy deities that has made this temple one of the most popular ones in the state of Tamilnadu.

The temple is also special in a manner that it is one of the 108 Vishnu temples or divyadesas. To add to this, the temple is also the birthplace of Goddess Laxmi as Bhoomi Devi.

Architecture

The architecture of the sri oppiliappan temple is inspired by the Chola Architecture and has a five tier entrance tower which looks magnanimous. Granite Marble is used extensively in the construction of the temple that still helps it to shine without any kind of wear and tear. There is also a scared mirror chamber located on the northern side just adjacent to the hall of deities Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman which is specially a place of interest during the Ram Navami festival.

Festivals and Carnivals in the temple

The sri oppiliappan temple holds many a festival and carnival throughout the year out of which the chariot festival is the most popular one. The festival commemorates in the month of punguni and goes on for 9 days where the chariot with the deity is carried around the neighborhood.