Friday, February 23, 2018

Amaleesvarar Temple, Gopurapatti, Trichy

Amaleesvarar Temple, Gopurapatti, Trichy
Amaleesvarar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Gopurapatti Village in Trichy District of Tamilnadu. This Temple was built by Chola Dynasty. The temple is rich in inscriptions and has magnificent sculptural wealth.








History
The early Chola temple here was in ruins but has been scientifically renovated and restored to its barest original form. Lord of the temple is called Thiru Amaleesvaram Udaiya Mahadevar in the inscriptions. It was built by the Chola kings in 975 A.D. It has the inscriptions of Uthama Chola, Raja Raja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I. One of the inscriptions here say that Chembian Madevi who was the wife of Gandaraditya Cholan and mother of Utthama Cholan, gifted lamps to this temple.







The Temple
The temple is East Facing. The temple has only the sanctum and a mandapam in front. The super structure of the sanctum is lost due to the ravages of time. The temple is rich in inscriptions and has magnificent sculptural wealth. Presiding Deity is called as Amaleeswarar / Thiru Amaleesvaram Udaiya Mahadevar. Durga, Brahma, Hariharan, Dakshina Moorthy are the Koshta Idols located around the sanctum walls.







The miniature panels carved in the basement depict selected themes from Bhagavata, Sivapuranas and Ramayana. The panels were really small, almost 4" x 6". Scenes of cultural reflection of the bygone era are also noted. More than five dance modes of Siva are found recorded here. A pretty huge, broken Nandi (bull) is placed in the midst of the fields.






Contact
Amaleesvarar Temple,
Gopurapatti, Trichy District
Mobile: +91 99426 32564
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 6 Kms from Manachanallur, 7 Kms from Thiruvasi, 12 Kms from Srirangam, 12 Kms from Thiruvanaikoil, 5 Kms from Thiruppainjeeli, 8 Kms from Thiruvellarai, 9 Kms from Pichandarkovil, 10 Kms from Samayapuram, 25 Kms from Thiruverumbur and 20 Kms from Trichy. This place can also be reached from Thiruvasi in the Trichy – Musiri route and this is located west of Thiruvasi. To reach this place, Best option is to take the Thuraiyur bound Mofussil bus at Toll Gate. Get down at Manachanallur. There are mini buses available from Manachanallur via Azhagiya Manavalam to the temple. No autos available here. Nearest Railway Stations are located at Uthamarkovil (9 Kms) and Trichy (23 Kms). Nearest Airport is located at Trichy (25 Kms).