This temple is a very very special temple. How this temple was built itself is a great miracle! Mahaperiyava was the one who identified this temple. Here is the detail of how all this unfolded. This is one side of the story. If you read the sthala puranam mentioned in the invitation, you can connect the dot with the puranic background with Mahaperiyava’s incident to understand the significance of the temple. I did not know that all our Periyavas visit this temple for every Mahasivarathri!

First read the story of how Mahaperiyava identified this temple (Thanks to Sri Suresh Panchanathan for the article in his site). I was fortunate enough to get Darshan of the swami at this temple few years back.

Thanks to Smt Mahalakshmi mami (+91 9840053289) for taking up this temple. Please contact mami to see how you can get involved.

Aum Nama Shivaya!

Once Kanchi Mahaperiyava was conversing with the people at the Matam and asked them, “Have any of you heard of a Shiva-Vishnu temple near Ekambareshwarar temple in Kanchi? Where was it? How is it now?”. Nobody seemed to be aware of this temple.

So, after checking the notes of history about the temple, Swamigal decided to find that place next day morning itself. When He and His disciples went to that location, they were disappointed to see a house and no signs of any temple!

Swamigal then walked up to a particular house. He asked a disciple to knock on the door. When the owner of the house opened the door, he was overjoyed to see Periyava and offered his salutations. Periyava straight away asked the owner if he would be willing to sell the house to the Matam. The owner apologetically declined saying that was a ancestral property and his only property. Periyava was not disappointed with his reply and asked him to think it over and added that if at any point he wished to sell the house, to contact Him directly.

A few days after the above incident the house owner approached Periyava and told Him that his son was unwell and required surgery and that he had decided to sell the house in order to raise money for his son’s treatment and had decided to go to back to his village. 

Swamigal told him that nothing will happen to his son and that he will lead a long, healthy life. Swamigal also told him that He will arrange to find another home for him in Kanchi. The home was transferred to the Kanchi Matam within 2 weeks. That boy got good treatment at a local hospital and became well.

A few days later, Swamigal called a Sthapati (architect specializing in temple construction) and asked him to start digging near that house. A toilet was there at that  particular digging spot. It was broken down and after digging 6 or 7 feet, he spotted a Lingam! He tried to take out the Lingam, but could not.

On hearing this, Swamigal came to the place, sprinkled Ganga water on the Lingam, did Abhishekam, place Vilvam on it and offered Harathi. “Take the Lingam out now”, said Swamigal. And the Lingam did come out effortlessly now. Shankara.

Swamigal smiled and said, “Don’t rest, dig more!”. When the Sthapati resumed the digging he stopped when he had metallic ‘tong’ sound. He was shocked to see the beauitful idol of Lord Ranganatha in an ‘Anantha Sayanam’ reclining pose. Stunned, he started to cry in Joy. Shankara.

Swamigal then asked him to build a small temple there. “Since Hari and Haran were found in the same place, let this temple be called as Sri Anantha Padmanabeshwarar (Padmanabha + Eshwarar)”, said Mahaperiyava.

Categories: Announcements, Samrakshanam