page_title: Saranathan temple
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Saranathan temple / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: saranatha perumal temple
context_page_description: The Saranathan Temple in Thirucherai, a village in the outskirts of Kumbakonam in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Saranathan and his consort Lakshmi as Saranayaki. It is believed that Saranathan appeared for Cauvery, the river goddess, who performed penance at this place.
  The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity with contributions at different times from Medieval Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire and Madurai Nayaks. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and three of the four bodies of water. The rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower has five tiers and raises to a height of 120 ft. The temple is unique where the presiding deity Vishnu has five consorts. It has also a shrine dedicated to river Cauvery, which is unique feature among all Vishnu temples.
  Saranathan is believed to have appeared to river Cauvery, sage Markandeya and Hindu gods Indra.
context_section_description: The temple is 380 ft (120 m) long and 380 ft (120 m) wide. The temple has a temple tank in front of the temple with the same dimension. The five-tiered gopuram (temple tower) is 120 ft (37 m) tall and pierces the large compound wall around the temple. There is a second gopuram is three-storied and it is located in the first precinct around the sanctum. The presiding deity, Sarantha has a 12 ft (3.7 m) tall image in standing posture. The stone images of Cauvery and sage Markandeya are housed in the sanctum. The festival deity is accompanied by Bhudevi, Sridevi and Neeladevi. A small idol of Santhanakrishna and Selvar are also housed in the sanctum. The shrine of Saranatha's consort Saranayaki Thayar is located adjacent to the sanctum. The image of both the main idol and the festival image in the Thayar are depicted in seated posture. In the second precinct there is a Kalayana hall, where there is a shrine of Rajagoplaswamy. The images of Rukmini and Sathyabama are also housed in the same shrine. In front of the shrine, the shrine of Thiruvenkatamudayam is situated. There are separate shrines of  Sri Rama, Narashima, Kaliyamardhana, Bala Saranatha, Senai Mudaliar, Ramanuja, Pillai Logachariar, Azhwars and Manavala Mamunigal in the temple. Mudikondan River flows from the west and Kudamurutti River in the south of the temple. There is a shrine of Hanuman from the west end of the temple tank and Vinayaka from the North eastern side.
  River Cauvery is seen in a maternal posture with a child on her lap. The temple is one of the few places where there is a separate shrine for river Cauvery.
caption: Image of the temple towers
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