Kothandarama Swamy Temple Ramanathapuram

Happy Rama Navami

Kothandarama Swamy Temple- Ramanathapuram

Located at about a kilometer from the sea shore, Kothandarama temple is half way to Dhanushkodi and is surrounded by the Indian Ocean.

It is believed that the temple is 1000 yrs old. The main deities are Lord Rama, Goddess Sita and Lakshman. In this shrine, Since Lord Rama has a bow (Kodanda) in his hand, he is also known as Kodandarama and the place is known as Kodandam. The unique feature of this temple is that Vibhishana is seen worshiping Lord Rama. Since Vibhishana got the blessings of Lord Rama, he is praised as “Vibhishana Azhwar” by the devotees.

About The Temple

Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman appear together facing each other.Vibhishan is also seen beside Lord Rama.To unite all devotees belonging to the three important sections, Dwaitha, Advaitha and Visishtathvaitha philosophies, shrines for Lord Ganapati and Sri Anjaneya were created.The temple also has a lecture hall, fine arts hall for musical and dance performances. The devotees contributed for the construction of a majestic Rajagopuram and Dwajasthamba. The old Deepasthamba is replaced with aesthetically styled Rajagopuram.

Lord Rama and Hanuman are facing south. A Navagraha shrine was built on the eastern side. The temple has wonderful paintings on the walls which narrates the stories of Ramayan. Aesthetic sculptures beautify the front frame of the sanctum. The silver doors are decorated with the image of Mahalakshmi.The temple has a box of papers containing 13 crore Rama Namas. The Prakara circle has beautiful sculptures of Nruddha Ganapati, Siddhi-Buddhi Ganapati, Bala Ganapati, Punnaimara Krishnan, Dasavathara Rama and Yoga Rama. The lime mortar sculptures of Adi Shankara, Sri Ramanuja, Madhvacharya, Lord Shiva, Vinayaka, Aiyappa, Ram Pattabishekam can also be seen. The temple is an amazing example of sculptural skills of Tamilnadu.

History

According to the legend, it was during the war between Lord Rama and demon Ravana who had abducted Goddess Sita and kept her in his confinement in Lanka when Vibhishana, who was the younger brother of Ravana had come to meet Lord Rama and surrender. As per the story, Vibhishana had advised his brother Ravana to free Goddess Sita and let her return back to Lord Rama. However, when Ravana refused to listen to him and considered him as a deserter. It is then Vibhishana had gone to Lord Rama to seek refuge. He later helped them during the war as well. After defeating Ravana, Lord Rama had crowned Vibhishana as the king of the Lanka.

According to one more legend associated with the temple, there is place near the temple named as Nandavanam where lord Rama is believed to have stayed with sage Bhringi at his ashram for a few days. There is also a temple tank, which has been named after sage Bhringi.

The Temple is an outstanding representation of architecture and perfect maintenance. Pujas and Havans are being performed from time to time.