sankaranarayana temple

Sankarankovil is a 900 year old temple temple dedicated to Sankaranarayana who is the combined manifestation of Siva and Vishnu. There are two other shrines dedicated to Siva and Parvati. The name Sankara joining with the name Narayana has given rise to a name Sankaranarayanan. In south Pandya country, there is a place where the worshipped image (moorthi) is the image of Siva and Vishnu in one body showing their oneness. That image is known as Sankaranarayanan. The place is called Sankaranarayanan Koil. This is now commonly pronounced as Sankaran Koil in usage. This temple is surrounded by high walls and the tower has many beautiful images. The stone idol of Nataraja is unique.

The temple of Gomathi Amman, Sankaranarayanar is situated on 4.5 acre site in the heart of the town. It is one of the Pancha Bootha(five elements) Sthalas in the South Pandya country. With an imposing Rajagopuram, rising to a height of 135 feet with nine tiers, the temple essentially consists of three parts - the shrines of siva, Gomathi Amman and Sankaranarayanar. Instead of Lingodbhavar whose image is generally found in the siva temples, one can worship the idol of Lord Narsimha. The shire of Gomathi Amman is found next with various forms of Amman, Nandhi,Subramania and Ganapathi. The Sri Chakra Peetam in front of the Devi shrine is specially worshipped.

The legends says that Gomati Amman, the consort of Siva wanted to see Hari and Hara as one and the same murti. So, Amman went on doing penance on the earth at Pungavanakshetram for 9 days in the month of Adi to have the darsan of Hari and Hara in one form. On one full-moon day Lord Siva gave her darsan as Sankaranarayana. In commemoration of this date the Adi Tapas festival is performed every year near Pungavanakshetram. There is also another legend being connected with this temple. It is that Ugra Pandian, the Pandya ruling cheif of the locality, used to go to Madura every day on an elephant for worship. One day the elephant on which he rode got into a pit and would not move. When the king was perplexed, a Harijan came running and informed him that a cobra was clinging to a Sivalingam beside an ant-hill in the jungle near-by. The king went to this place and witnessed the sight and afterwards constructed a temple around the Lingam, and this is the beginning of the present shrine of Sankaranarayanaswami. The earth obtained from the ant-hill is said to have wonderful powers of healing any skin disease or abscess. This sacred earth is sold in the precincts of the temple in the form of globules. Adi Tapas festival of 10 days is celebrated in the Tamil month of Adi which corresponds to the English month of July - August.

Location:

SankaranKovil is

56 kms from Thirunelveli,
140 Kms. south from Madurai,
130 Kms. north from Kanniyakumari and
160 Kms. northeast from Thiruvananthapuram.

Access:

Bus: Regular bus services are available from all major cities.