Namakkal Sree Anjaneyar Temple — Attraction in Tamil Nadu

In December 2018 on Vaikunta Ekadashi we visited a few temples. After visiting Vedanarayanapuram we proceeded to Nammakal famous for Narasimha and Anjaneya temples. The distance between Vedanarayanapuram to Nammakal is about 50 km. We reached Hanuman temple in about 45 minutes and saw fruit and honey abhishekam for Anjaneya. One of the beautiful Hanumans we have seen this Anjaneya stood tall at 18ft and the priests have to climb a flight of steps to do abhishekam. Hanuman fulfils wishes and removes sorrows. His calm countenance and majesty is awe -inspiring . This Anjaneya is facing Narasimha temple and infact is responsible for the cave temple of Narasimha across the road. Though a big temple Anjaneya has no roof or a gopuram and invites a second and even a third look. After doing pradakshinam we crossed the road to go to Lakshminrisimha temple. A stone fort was there atop the hill and Lakshminrisimha temple is inside a cave. We had darsan of utsavar Sri Lakshminrisimha where our offerings Tulasi garlands were accepted before we entered the sanctum. The priest asked us to look at the walls to our left and right and we saw rock cut images of Hiranyakasipu being torn by Nrisimha and Vamana growing to Trivikrama as also Varahamoorthi. Impressed we went to the centre to behold Nrisimha in Veerasanam that is one Leg is folded and the other is on the ground. Lakshmi is on His Chest.He has Four Hands holding shanku chakram and shows ‘abhaya hastham’.He is flanked by Brahma and Shiva and Surya and Chandran are seen fanning Him.After worshipping Him we went to Namagiri Thayar sannidhi. Mahalakshmi did tapas here inorder to see Nrisimha. Hanuman who brought a salagramashila from Muktinath and asked Mahalakshmi to hold it while he went to do Sandhya vandana. The salagrama grew heavy and became the hill which houses Narasimha who gave darsan to both Mahalakshmi and Anjaneya. Since Lakshmi was doing ‘Nama japa’ She is known as Namagiri and the town is called Nammakal. Namagiri Thayar revealed solutions to intricate mathematical formulae to the legendary mathematician Srinivasan Ramanujan and students still pray to Her for mastering Maths. We did not visit Ranganatha temple and Nammakal Fort as we had to...

Hiranyakasipu was troubling the Devas as he got a boon from Brahma that no human can kill him, neither could he be killed in morning, noon or night nor in air, water or ground. His son Prahlada was an ardent devotee of Vishnu against the wishes of his father. He also tried to slay Prahalada at various times, just to be saved by the divine grace of Vishnu. During a heated argument with Prahalada, Hiranyakasipu was asking if Vishnu is present everywhere and went on to break a pillar with his weapon. Vishnu took the avatar of Narasimha and appeared from the pillar. Narasimha was a human with lion face and slayed Hiranyakasipu on an evening time in a doorway, which was neither land nor air.

Ages past by, when Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu was doing penance at this place. Hanuman (locally called Anjaneyar) was carrying an image made of Saligrama and Lakshmi requested him to get her a view of Vishnu in the form of Narasimha. Hanuman entrusted the saligrama to her and asked her to hold it until he returns. Lakshmi placed the image at this place, which grew into a mount before Hanuman could return. Narasimha appeared before both of them and set his abode at this place. The Narasimhaswamy temple, located right at the foot hills is also associated with this legend and Hanuman is believed to have worshipped him in standing posture form a distance axial to the temple. The temple is located in Namakkal, in the downhill of the Namakkal hill in Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu on the road from Namakkal to Salem. The temple has a flat gateway tower with a pillared hall leading to the sanctum. The sanctum houses the image of 18 ft (5.5 m) Anjaneyar axially facing the Narasimha shrine in the foothills, located 130 m (430 ft) away. The image of Anjaneyar is carved out of a single stone and believed to be existing from the 5th century. There is no roof over the sanctum and Anjaneyar has a unique iconography sporting a sword in his waist and holding a garland made of Saligram. The temple is considered one of the prominent temples in the Tamil Nadu state and the country. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government...

Good place , but we need attention in our belongings,

Namakkal Anjaneyar temple is located in Namakkal, a town in Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu, India and is dedicated to the Hindu god Hanuman. It is constructed in the Tamil style of architecture. The legend of the temple is associated with Narasimha, an avatar of Hindu god Vishnu appearing for Hanuman and Lakshmi. The image of Anjaneyar is 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, making it one of the tallest images of Hanuman in India. The temple follows the Vaikhanasa tradition.

The temple has a pillared hall leading to the sanctum. Four daily rituals and many yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which fifteen-day Panguni Uthiram festival celebrated during the Tamil month of Panguni (March - April) when the image of presiding deities are taken around the streets of the temple, being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed four times a day: Kalasandhi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikala pooja at 12:00 p.m., Sayaraksha at 6:00 p.m., and Ardhajama Pooja at 8:45 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alankaram (decoration), naivedyam (food offering) and deepa aradhanam (waving of lamps) for the presiding deities. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple. The temple is open from 6:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 - 9:00 p.m. on all days except during festive occasions when it has extended timings. The major festival of the temple is the fifteen-day Panguni Uthiram festival celebrated during the Tamil month of Panguni (March - April) when the image of presiding deities are taken around the streets of the temple. In modern times, the Namakkal district administration has identified the temple as one of the prominent tourist attractions in the district.  The temple is frequented by people in and around Namakkal. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government...