Krishna as Damodara
Thennangur Panduranga Temple Gokulashtami festival celebrations.. Lord Krishna is worshipped in the form of Panduranga by his devotees. He is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Panduranga is often depicted as a smiling handsome young man by keeping his two arms on his hip, and he cheerfully appears with his consort Mata Rukmani.
There is an excellent Panduranga and Rakhumayi temple located in Thennangur, on the Kanchipuram-Vandavasi road. Thennangur in Puranik terms is referred to as Dakshina Halasyam. It is located 6 km from Vandavasi and 35 km from Kanchipuram. Today, Thennangur is popularly known as Dakshina Pandharpur.
On the day of Gokulashtami or Sri Krishna Jayanthi, the Lord is worshipped in the form of Venugopal. His attire is made up of a blue coloured cloth stitched with pearls and diamonds. A Saptaham (Seven Day worship) is conducted in the Namaankirtana Mandapam following Gokulashtami, when the Lord is presented in different forms or postures, like the Govardana Giridhari, Rajagopala and as Parthasarathi who did Geethopadesam to save the mankind from falling in the trap of kama-krodha-lobha-moha-madha-mathsarya.
Sri Krishna Prasadam is very famous in this temple especially during Sri Krishna Jayanti festival event, and it is distributed to the devotees on that auspicious day. The delicious Sri Krishna Prasadam is served to the devotees, after presenting it before the deity of Lord Krishna, and during the time of Sri Krishna Puja, devotees used to willingly eat the Prasad items by considering that the Holy Prasad items are directly offered by Lord Krishna itself.
In Panduranga temples, the devotees are allowed to touch the feet of the god and the goddess Ma Rukmani and worship them. We can offer fruits and flowers and food items like mixed rice as naivedyam to the god. Whatever we offer, we must give it to him with utmost faith on him and with pure bhakti in our mind. We can recite the stotras of Panduranga and perform puja in our home. Providing food to the poor people is also a kind of noble activity and it will please Lord Vittal. It is a must for us to visit the Vittal-Rukmani temple at Thenangur, which is considered as the Southern Pandaripur, at least once in our life time, and to stay there for a few days, and can participate with the other local people in bhajans and pujas and peacefully and usefully enjoy our every moment of life in that holiest place.
“OM SRI PANDARINATHANE NAMO NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R. HARISHANKAR