Varadaraja perumal temple

[Dr Bhavana K R]

Respected Vidvajjan, 

Namaskara. Is there any good book which talks about the history of the Varadaraja perumal temple of Kanchipuram? I am particularly interested in reading about the shrine of Dhanvantari. The unique Annalakshmi- Dhanvantari image has Dhanvantari holding Amruta kalasha and Lakshmi holding Akshayapatra. I want to read about it. Kindly help.

Thank you,

Dr Bhavana K R 

[L Srinivas]

You can look up the following. You will get some details here:

1. KV Raman: Sri Varadajaswami Temple - Kanchi, 1975 (p. 167)

2. R Varada Tatacharya: The Temple of Lord Varadaraja, Kanchi, 1978. It has a picture of the Danvantrin  icon. (p. 111)

This book was written as a critique of KV Raman's book, so the two should be read together.

3. TA Gopinatha Rao: Elements of Hindu Iconography (Pt 1), 1914 (p. 251). I dont think any of the parts of this work has a picture of the icon.

All are available on archive. These are standard and somewhat dated references.

Perhaps you could try looking up Chitra Madhavan's Vishnu Temples of South India (2007). It's a multi volume work but vol 2 is your best bet.

If iconography is what really interests you, you could do worse than read up about the Srirangam Temple which too has a proper Danvantrin shrine with both achala and chala images. The Varadaraja Temple does not have a chala image of Danvantrin.

Lastly, there are several Danvantrin shrines in Kerala.

Hope this helps,

Srini

[Nagaraj Paturi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhanvantari#Temples_in_India

In Tamil Nadu, in the courtyard of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (Srirangam), there is a Dhanvantari shrine where daily worship of the deity is performed. In front of this temple there is an engraved stone believed to be from the 12th century. According to the writings on the stone, Garuda Vahana Bhattar, a great ayurvedic physician, established the statue inside the temple. A prasada or tirtham, a herbal decoction, is given to the visitors. 

The shrine is the oldest Dhanvantari shrine in the state. 

Madhavan, Chitra (2008). Vishnu temples of South India, Volume two . Chitra Madhavan. page 108 is mentioned as source for this view. 

Another Dhanvantari shrine is found in the second precinct of Varadaraja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram.

Same book page 110 is mentioned for this. 

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Nagaraj Paturi

 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Senior Director, IndicA

BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra

BoS Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Maharashtra

BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.

Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru

BoS Rashtram School of Public Leadership

Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Studies in Public Leadership

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, 

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education, 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

 

 

 

[ken p]

Here is Wiki article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhanvantari

[Dr Bhavana K R]

Thank you all. I read all the books mentioned here. The ones by K V Raman and Chithra Madhavan were helpful. Chithraji describes well about Dhanvantari shrine of Srirangam and none of the books talk about the history of Dhanvantari Temple in Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple. There are Many inscriptions on the temple walls. Ain't they deciphered yet ? Any book which talks about the inscriptions of Varadappa Temple? 

I think the Dhanvantari idol of Varadappa Temple is older than the one at Srirangam. (The idol at Srirangam was destroyed during Muslim invasions and was reinstated during Vijaynagar times)