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CHENNARAYA
PERUMAL
TEMPLE
-
Athiyamaan
Kottai
–
Dharmapuri
–
Tamilnadu.
Chennamma
Naicker
a
cowherd
by
profession,
who
lived
during
the
period
of
King
Krishna
Deva
Raya
of
the
Vijayanagara
dynasty,
was
returning
home
one
day
after
gracing
his
cows.
He
found
one
cow
missing
and
on
searching
for
the
same
he
found
the
cow,
and
to
his
utter
astonishment,
the
cow
was
feeding
a
child
with
milk
from
its
udder.
The
cow
which
had
not
delivered
a
calf
till
date,
feeding
milk
to
a
child
was
a
strange
sight,
and
he
presumed
it
could
be
only
a
form
of
divine
intervention.
The
boy
summoned
Chennamma
Naicker
and
gave
him
Darshan
as
Lord
Maha
Vishnu.(Perumal).
The
Lord
told
Chennamma
that
he
wished
to
stay
in
the
hills
and
asked
Chennamma
to
build
a
Temple
for
him.
As
lord
Mahavishnu
came
to
his
Devotee,
he
is
known
as
Chendru(Devotee)
Aiya(Lord),
which
got
corrupted
to
Chenraya
Perumal.
The
Temple
was
in
existence
pre
Hoysala
and
Vijayanagara
Kingdoms.
It
is
in
a
place
called
Athiyamaan
Kottai(Fort
built
by
King
Athiyamaan)
today.
However,
the
stone
structure
seems
to
have
been
built
by
the
Hoysala’s
around
the
13th
Century.
Later
it
passed
on
to
the
Vijayanagara
kingdom.
King
Krishna
Deva
Raya
seems
to
have
visited
the
Temple.
The
temple
has
a
Mukhadwaram
without
a
Gopuram(Tower),
which
leads
into
a
rectangular
courtyard.
On
entrance
is
the
Balipeetham,
Dhwaja
Sthambam,
and
a
small
sanctum
for
Garuda
facing
Lord
Mahavishnu.
In
the
courtyard
is
the
main
temple
consisting
of
the
Mukhamandapam,
Ardhamandapam
&
the
Garbhagriha
which
has
a
Vimana.
On
the
vimana
is
an
erotic
scene
as
found
in
Khajuraho.
The
presiding
deity
is
Lord
Mahavishnu
with
his
consorts
Shridevi
&
Bhudevi.
The
images
are
of
a
size
of
4
to
5
feet.
The
Mukhmandapam
is
an
art
galore
of
painting
naturally
died
on
the
ceiling,
depicting
the
lores
of
Mahabharata,
Ramayana
and
Lord
Mahavishnu
showing
his
Vishwaroopam,
with
the
entire
living
and
nonliving
etched
on
his
body
signifying
the
preserver
of
Life
forms.
The
paintings
are
also
highlighted
in
Kannada
script.
The
temple
came
into
the
influence
of
King
Athiyamaan
Neduman
Anji.
Athiyamaan
must
have
been
a
great
King,
whose
annals
are
lost
in
history
books
and
needs
much
more
attention.
The
King
ruled
from
a
place
called
Thagadoor,
which
is
the
modern
day
Dharmapuri
in
Tamilnadu,
but
his
residence
was
in
Adhiyamaan
Fort
about
8
Kms
from
Dharmapuri.
He
was
one
of
the
7
greatest
Donors
amongst
the
dynasties
of
Tamilnadu.
The
Athiyamaan
dynasty
ruled
from
Thagadoor
atleast
from
the
3rd
Century
CE.
The
dynasty
is
also
known
as
“Satyaputra’s”,
the
Clan
of
Truth.
Rock
inscriptions
of
the
Sangam
period,
The
Ashoka
Edicts,
the
inscriptions
of
Jambai,
modern
day
Tirukoilur
mention
about
their
sovereignty
starting
from
1st
century
CE.
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