brahmasandEham :-)

Submitted by jkmohanarao on Sun, 2012-06-17 05:08 My Gallery

Question, do any one of you know any temple (not in private homes) where the idol of vishNu is decorated with vibhUti (not nAmam) and worshipped according to the Saiva tradition? Regards! - mOhana

smahalakshmi's picture

smahalakshmi

Sun, 2012-06-17 22:39

No idea, JKM sir. If I get to know something, will definitely answer your question.

aditya's picture

aditya

Mon, 2012-06-18 00:51

I am not sure sir, but all Sankarnarayana temples in South India where the deity is half Shiva and half vishnu has VibhUthi alankaram and mostly saivite traditions are followed. Or are you looking out for a purely Vishnu idol worshipped in Saivite tradition??

jkmohanarao's picture

jkmohanarao

Mon, 2012-06-18 03:34

Thanks aaditya. This is a useful information I did not know. The reason why I am asking this question is - before the advent of rAmAnuja, vishNu and the manifestations of vishNu like kRshNa and rAmA were being worshipped. During those days everyone, including the later and present day followers of rAmAnuja and madhva, was following Sankara and so the idols of vishNu were decorated with vibhUti. If I remember right, there is even a mention of this in tiruppAvai. Even though most present day vishNu temples follow the rAmAnuja and in some instances the madhva traditions, there must be a few vishNu temples that follow the Sankara tradition. I am really curious to know something about this curious facet of history.

Regards! - mOhana

aditya's picture

aditya

Mon, 2012-06-18 23:28

The famous Guruvayur temple of Kerala follows the norms set by Sri Adi Sankara which in general is called the Sankara tradition. Many other vishnu/krishna temples in Kerala follow this tradition too. Guess they were not influenced by Raamanuja or Madhwa. Do correct me sir if I am wrong.

jkmohanarao's picture

jkmohanarao

Tue, 2012-06-19 03:02

But guruvAyUr kRshNa seems to have only a tilaka (perhaps with chandana) on his forehead. Before the advent of rAmAnuja, there must have been vishNu temples where the vibhUti was applied to vishNu or rAma or kRshNa idols. Are there no such temples now? In their religious wars, did the two communities divide their Gods too? I am still puzzled. Regards! - mOhana

anirudh's picture

anirudh

Mon, 2012-07-09 23:10

Sir, got to know that one of the Narasimha Temple in KoTeshwara near to Brahmavar/ Udupi, use Vibhuti while doing the pooja. Not able to get any info on pure vishNu temple.