Manavala temple in Trichy to open for public darshan

MADURAI: The Manavala Mamunigal Thiruvarasu temple situated on the southern side of ‘Ponni’ river (Kollidam) in Trichy will be opened soon for public darshan, thanks to an order of the Madras high court Madurai bench.
At present, devotees are unable to visit the temple as a land belonging to it and the pathway, have been encroached upon over the past 60 years. Besides, the temple structure is also under a dilapidated condition.
Seeking to open the temple and perform poojas etc. devotees had time and again made fervent appeals with the district authorities, but their efforts went in vain.
Hence, Swami Govindaramanuja Dasa, president of International Srivaishnava Dharma Samrakshna Society, Chennai filed a petition.
To ascertain the facts, the court appointed S Lakshmikanth as advocate commissioner. He inspected the spot and submitted the report before the division bench comprising justices S Tamilvanan and V S Ravi on Monday when the writ petition came up for hearing.
In his report, he said that there are certain structures of archaeological importance in a dilapidated condition and one of them at 24ft long and 18ft wide depicts that there was a deity that was subjected to worship many years ago. He further confirmed that there was a 47.5ft long and 6ft wide size pathway at the site.
Following it, the court passed orders directing the concerned officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) and Trichy district authorities to make arrangements to ensure public darshan at the temple.
Reacting to the court’s order, an official of the HR&CE department said steps will be taken to facilitate devotees to gain access into the temple site. There is also a plan to renovate the structures after getting permission from the government, the official said.
According to Vaishnavism, Manavala Mamunigal (1370-1443) is the head of all jeeyars (head) and it is believed that worshipping him at his ‘Thiruvarasu’ is a meaning of life. Lakhs of devotees would throng his Thiruvarasu temple during two urchavams (festivals) – ‘Avathara urchavam’ (incarnation festival) and ‘Theertha urchavam’ (death anniversary) in a year. Those festivals were not taking place for many years as the shrine was closed and the statue was thrown away, said Dasa.