[Advaita-l] Regarding Padmanabhaswamy

[Kalyan]

//There is another very important Govindaraja sannidhi, with the reclining
Vishnu as the mUlavigraha, in Chidambaram, within the same temple complex
as the famous Nataraja temple.//


The Govindaraja swamy temples at Chidambaram and Tirupathi have a deep connection.

Chidambaram was the place where the original Govindaraja swamy temple existed before the idol was said to be dumped into the sea due to sectarian rivalries. Vaishnavas were however able to save the utsava murtis and brought them to Tirupathi, and built the current Govindaraja swamy temple at Tirupathi.

Later, during the Vijayanagara rule, the current Chidambaram Govindaraja Swamy was installed again by a local king.


http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2621/stories/20091023262102600.htm


//According to historians, during the reign of Kulothunga Chola-II, a Saivite, the idol of Govindaraja Perumal was dumped in the sea. When it was reinstalled later by a chieftain of the Vijayanagar empire, as many as 20 Dikshitars committed suicide//


//In its judgment on September 15, the court pointed out that both the shrines, of Nataraja and Govindaraja Perumal, have separate sanctum sanctorums, altars, temple towers and flag masts. Separate rituals and ceremonies are conducted for the deities. The order also points out that the Sabanayagar temple is one of the 108 divyadesams (holy places of Vaishnavites). Tamil savants Kulasekara Azhwar and Thirumangai Azhwar had visited this shrine, and their verses on Govindaraja Perumal have been compiled into Nalayira Divyaprabandam, it adds.//


//"It is also history that due to certain conflicts between the Saivites and Vaishnavites, the idol of Thillai Govindaraja was removed in or about the 13th century and later during the rule of Vijayanagara kings, one of their chieftains reconstructed the Govindaraja sannidhi [sanctum sanctorum], after which [17th century] the small sannidhi in its present form came to stay and pujas are being performed by a separate sect of Vaishnavite priests,” it says.//


Regards
Kalyan