Temple car
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Temple cars[1][2] or Temple chariots are used to carry representations of Hindu gods around the streets of the temple on festival days. These chariots are generally manually pulled by the devotees of the deity.
As of 2004, Tamil Nadu had 515 wooden carts, 79 of which needed repairs.[3] Annamalaiyar Temple, Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram Natarajar Temple are among the temples that possess these huge wooden chariots for regular processions.
The Natarajar Temple celebrates the chariot festival twice a year; once in the summer (Aani Thirumanjanam, which takes place between June and July) and another in winter (Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai, which takes place between December and January). Lord Krishna of Udupi has five temple cars, namely Brahma ratha (the largest), Madya ratha (medium), kinyo (small), and the silver and gold rathas.
The size of the largest temple cars inspired the Anglo-Indian term Juggernaut (from Jagannath), signifying a tremendous, virtually unstoppable force or phenomenon.
Earliest pictures of Temple chariots[edit]
Largest temple chariot[edit]
The procession of the Asia's largest and greatest temple car of Thiruvarur Thiyagarajar Temple in Tamil Nadu features prominently in an ancient festival held in the town.[4] The annual chariot festival of the Thygarajaswamy temple is celebrated during April – May, corresponding to the Tamil month of Chitrai. The chariot is the largest of its kind in Asia and India weighing 300 tons with a height of 90 feet. The chariot comes around the four main streets surrounding the temple during the festival. The event is attended by lakhs of people from all over Tamil Nadu.[5]
The Aazhi Ther is the biggest temple chariot in Tamil Nadu. The 30-foot tall temple car, which originally weighed 220 tons, is raised to 96 feet with bamboo sticks and decorative clothes, taking its total weight to 350 tons. Mounted on the fully decorated temple car, the presiding deity – Lord Shiva – went around the four streets with the devotees pulling it using huge ropes. Two bulldozers were engaged to provide the required thrust so that devotees could move the chariot.[6]
Gallery[edit]
House of Jaffna temple car at Nallur Kandaswamy temple, Northern Province, Sri Lanka, where temple car preserves or rests during non-function.
Tiruvarur temple car, the largest (chariot) temple car in the world, it weighing 300 tonnes (295 long tons; 331 short tons) with a height of 90 feet (27.43 m).
Type of temple car called Theru from the Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani, Kerala
Type of temple car called Kuthira from the Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani, Kerala
Srivilliputtur Andal Temple car which was idle 18 years up to 1974 – 2nd largest Temple Car in Tamil Nadu.
Picture of Tirunelveli Nellaiappar Temple Golden car.
Picture of Alwarkurichi People pulling Sivasailanathaswamy Temple car.
List of places with traditional Temple cars[edit]
India[edit]
Tamil Nadu[edit]
- Alwarkurichi, Tenkasi
- Aragalur
- Avinashi (Sri Avanashiappar Temple)
- Bhavani Kooduthoorai, Tamil Nadu (4 chariots)
- Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (Koniamman Temple)
- Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu (Nataraja Temple)
- Dindigul (Abiramiyamman Kovil)
- Denkanikottai (Betarayaswamy Kovil)
- Erode (Chennimalai, Sivagiri, Sivanmalai)
- Gobichettipalayam (Sri Kondathukalaimman Temple, Sri Balamurugan Temple and others)
- Kadayanallur
- Kallal Town (Somasundareswarer Kovil)
- Kanchipuram (Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ekambareswarar Temple and others)
- Karuvalur (Shri Mariamman Kovil)
- Karamadai (Ranganathaswamy temple)
- Kumbakonam (Sri Saarangapani Temple and others)
- Lalgudi (Saptharishishwarar Temple)
- Madurai (Sri Meenakshi Amman Temple and others)
- Mannargudi (Sri vidhya Rajagopalaswamy temple)
- Minjur (Sri Ekambaranatha temple)
- Mylapore, Chennai (Kapaleeshwarar Temple)
- North Authoor (Sri Somanathar Somasundari Temple)
- Palani
- Perur (Patteewarar Temple)
- Sakkottai, Karaikudi
- Sankarankovil (Sankara Narayanasamy Temple)
- Srivaikuntam (Sri Srivaikuntanathan Permual Temple – Fourth largest temple car in Tamil Nadu)
- Suchindram (Thanumalayan Temple)
- Srivilliputtur (Sri Andal Temple - Second largest temple car in Tamil Nadu)
- Salem (Elampillai, Aranagalur, Rasipuram)
- Sholinghur Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple,Sholinghur.
- Srimushnam (Boovaraha Swami temple - Second largest temple car in Tamilnadu[citation needed])
- Tiruchendur (Sri Subramanya Swami temple)
- Thirupathiripuliyur, Cuddalore (Padaleeswarar temple)
- Thiruvanthipuram, Cuddalore District (Devanathaswamy temple)
- Tirunelveli (Sri Nellaiappar Temple – Third largest temple car in Tamil Nadu)
- Tiruchengode (Sri Arthanareeswarar Temple - Fourth largest temple car in Tamil Nadu)
- Tiruvannamalai (Annamalaiyar, unnamulai amman temple, 5 Chariots)
- Tirupattur (Aruilmigu Muthukumara Swamy Thirukkovil, God Shiva chariot)
- Thirthahalli
- Tiruvallur
- Tiruvidaimarudur (Mahalinga Swamy) Schariots
- Thungapuram (Ariyalur-Perambalur)
- Thiruvarur (Thiyagarajar Temple - First largest temple car in Asia)[citation needed]
- Thiruthangal (Perumal Kovil)
- Thirukoshtiyur (Sri Sowmiya Narayana Perumal Kovil)
- Vickramasingapuram (Sivanthiappar Kovil)
- Virudhunagar
- Vasudevanallur (Sri Cinthamani Nathar temple (arthanathiswarar temple)
Karnataka[edit]
- Bantwal
- Gokarna (Sri Mahabaleshwara Temple)
- Hampi (Immovable stone chariot built by Vijayanagara Kings)
- Karinjeshwara
- Kateel (Shri Durga Parameshwari Temple)
- Kollur, Udupi (Mookambika Temple)
- Mangalore (Shri Venkataraman temple)
- Nanjangud (Srikanteshwara Temple)
- Mulki (Shree Venkataramana Temple)
- Mulki (Shree Kalikamba Temple)
- Mulki (Shri Bappanadu Temple)
- Mysuru (Chamundeshwari Temple)
- Puttur, (Shri Maha Lingeshsara Temple)
- Suratkal
- Udupi
Odisha[edit]
Kerala[edit]
- Chettikulangara, (Chettikulangara Devi Temple)
- Cherai
- Palakkad, Kerala (Many temples in settlements of Palakkad)
Andhra Pradesh[edit]
Others[edit]
- Manali New Town (Aiyya Temple)
- Yanam
Malaysia[edit]
- George Town (Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple)
- Kuala lumpur (Seri Maha Mariamman Temple Devasthanam)
- Teluk Intan (Nagarathaar Sri Thendayuthapani)
Sri Lanka[edit]
Germany[edit]
List of places with golden Temple cars[edit]
Andhra Pradesh[edit]
- Lord Shiva temple
- Narasimhaswami temple and tirumala Sri vari ratham
Karnataka[edit]
- Gokarna (Shri Mahabaleshwar temple)
- Kateel (Shri Durga Parameshwari temple)
- Kollur (Mookambika Temple)
- Konchady, Mangalore (Mahalasa Narayani Temple)
- Udupi (Sri Krishna matha)
Puducherry[edit]
- Sri Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar, Pondicherry, Puducherry
Tamil Nadu[edit]
- Arulmigu Maruntheeswar, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai
- Arulmigu Devi Karumariamman, Thiruverkadu, Chennai
- Arulmigu Vadapalani Andavar, Vadapalani, Chennai
- Arulmigu Kamatchiamman, Mangadu, Chennai
- Arulmigu Kanthaswamy, Parktown, Chennai
- Arulmigu Mundakakanniamman, Mylapore, Chennai
- Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar, Mylapore, Chennai
- Maruthamalai, Coimbatore (Subramanya Swamy Temple)
- Coimbatore (Eachanari Vinayagar Temple)
- Coimbatore (Thandu Mariamman Temple)
- Arulmigu MeenakshiSundareswarar, Madurai
- Arulmigu Solaimalai Murugan, Pazhamudircholai, Alagarkovil Madurai
- Arulmigu Jambukeswarar, Thiruvanaikkaval, Trichy
- Arulmigu Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli
- Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy, Rameswaram
- Arulmigu Subramaniaswamy, Thiruchendur
- Arulmigu Kamatchiamman, Kanchipuram
- Arulmigu Dandayuthapaniswamy, Palani
- Arulmigu Swaminathaswamy, Swamimalai
- Arulmigu Subramanyaswamy, Thiruttani
- Arulmigu Anjaneyaswamy, Namakkal
- Arulmigu Pachaimalai Murugan, Gobichettipalayam
- Arulmigu Pariyur Kondathu Kaliamman, Gobichettipalayam
- Arulmigu Mariamman, Bannari, Erode
- Arulmigu Velayuthaswamy, Thindalmalai, Erode
- Arulmigu Arthanareeswarar, Tiruchengode
- Arulmigu Subramaniyaswamy, Sivanmalai, Tirupur
- Arulmigu Kottaimariamman, Dindigul
- Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar, Thiruvannamalai
- Arulmigu Vaidhyanathaswamy, Vaitheeswaran Kovil
- Arulmigu Mahalinga Swamy Temple, Thiruvidaimarudur (SILVER CHARIOT)
- Arulmigu SankaraNarayanaswamy, Sankarankovil
- Nanguneri (Arulmigu Vanamamalai Perumal)
- Arulmigu Balamurugan, Raththinagiri
- Arulmigu Mariamman, Samayapuram
- Arulmigu Masaniamman, Anamalai
- Arulmigu Mathurakaliyamman, Siruvachur, Perambalur District
- Arulmigu Angalaparameshwari Amman, Melmalayanur, Villupuram District
- Arulmigu Natarajar Temple, Chidambaram, Cuddalore District - the chariot for Pichandavar on the eighth day of 10-day long festival
- Arulmigu Yoga Lakshmi Narasimar temple, Sholinghur, Ranipet district.
- Arulmigu Vijayapuri Amman temple, Vijayamangalam,Erode
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Rajarajan, R. K. K.; Rajukalidoss, Parthiban. "Nāyaka Chefs-d'oeuvre: Structure and Iconography of the Śrīvilliputtūr Tēr". Acta Orientalia.
- ↑ Rajarajan, R. K. K. "Iconographic Programme in Temple Cars: A Case Study of Kūṭal Alakar tēr". East and West, Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO), Rome.
- ↑ "Government of Tamil Nadu Welcomes You". tn.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012.
- ↑ "Official Website of Arulmigu Thiyagaraja Swamy Temple,Tiruvarur - Festival". thiyagarajaswamytemple.tnhrce.in. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ↑ "Festivals, Culture & Heritage | Tiruvarur District, Government of Tamil Nadu | India". Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- ↑ Kumar, K. Sambath (16 June 2016). "Car festival held at Tiruvarur Thyagaraja Swamy Temple after a gap of six years". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 March 2021.