Thirucherai
| Thirucherai | |
|---|---|
| village | |
 Thirucherai
|
|
| Coordinates: 10°55′56″N 79°31′58″E / 10.93222°N 79.53278°ECoordinates: 10°55′56″N 79°31′58″E / 10.93222°N 79.53278°E | |
| Country |
 India
|
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Thanjavur |
| Taluk | Kumbakonam taluk |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 3,389 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Thirucherai is in the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India.
As per the 2001 census,Thirucherai had a total population of 3389 with 1673 males and 1716 females. The sex ratio was 1026. The literacy rate was 79.35
After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire in Tanjore, Azhagiya Manavala Naicker who ruled Tanjore planned to erect a temple for Rajagopala swamy in Mannarkudi. He appointed his minister Narasa Boopalan for this job. He was to get Blackstones from all possible places.
This minister was a great worshipper of Saranatha Perumal of Thirucherai and wanted to erect a temple for him too. So he ordered his men to unload one stone from each cart which passed Thirucherai. A spy of the king caught hold of this and informed the king. The angered king came for an inspection. But before that in overnight Narasa Boopalan constructed this temple and to please the king he added a sannathi for Rajagopala swamy too and his plan worked and he was away from kings anger after that the king ordered to complete the temple with his money.
Thirucherai is the only Divya Desam where Lord Vishnu is seen with five Goddesses
When time came to destroy the world and finish the yugam, Brahma was worried a lot. He pleaded Lord Vishnu to tell him a way to keep the tools necessary for Srishti and all vedas safely. Lord ordered him to put all these things in a strong mud pot and after trying mud from all places Brahma finally made a pot out of the sand taken from Thirucherai and saved all vedhas and all necessary aids for srishti. Hence as this placed gave the magical mud which held a lead role this place became the reason for all living things to live even after the Maha pralaya so this place is called “Sara Shetram”.
And also as the place, Lord, Lady, Pushkarani and Vimana all five together gave the support this place is called “Pancha Sara Shetram”.
River Cauveri wanted her status to be equal to river Ganges and performed a Tough (or) hard penance. She laid 3 wishes before the god. (a) O! Lord you should stay in this place for ever and ever (b) all the Jeevans in this place should attain your lotus feet (c) I should be treated as pious as river Ganges. Lord Vishnu granted all her wishes and to improvise her status further among all the other river he accepted her as his mother and crawled as a child in her hands.
The Vaishnavites of Thirucherai use the attribute ‘Sara’ (quintessence, core, soul, etc.) to denote the Perumal enshrined here. The kshetra is known as Sara-kshetra. The Moorthi is known as Sara-nathan, His Consort as Sara-nayaki, the temple tower as sara-vimanam and the temple tank as sara-pushkarani. It is therefore that the Saivites have also chosen to call their Lord as Sara-Parameswarar, the Lord who is the core of all beings. The Shiva temple is popularly known as Arul migu Gnanavalli-samedha-Sara Parmeswarar Koil.
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