Thiru Vellarai New Raja Gopuram by end 2025

The final hurdle has been overcome. The foundation stone for the Northern Raja Gopuram at Pundareekakshan Divya Desam in Thiru Vellarai, the birth place of Uyyakondan and Engal Azhvaan, was laid this week by HRCE minister PK Sekar Babu and work began this weekend. This section had earlier featured a couple of stories, one in 2017 and another last year, on the hurdles facing the construction of the Raja Gopuram 

The Towers at the main entry point of two prominent and ancient Divya Desams near Trichy had been left as Mottai Gopuram and remained as such till the 1980s when a decision was taken to construct a world beating Raja Gopuram at the Southern entrance to the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam that now stands tall at 236 feet.

The other one, the Pundarikakshan temple at Thiruvellarai Divya Desam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/10/thiru-vellarai-divya-desam.html) dates back to a period when 3700 Vaishnavite families lived in the town. For reasons, unrecorded, the Raja Gopuram at the Northern entrance remained unfinished.

It is Thiruvellarai that Periyazhvaar praised as his first full decad on a temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/09/krishna-kaapidal.html). Periyazhvaar describes Thiru Vellarai as a place with lofty mansions that were so high that they seemed to touch the moon.Through this description one can well imaging the prosperity of Thiru Vellarai in the centuries gone by. 

He praises this as a place where Indra, Brahmma, Shiva and other Celestial Lords brought flowers for the Lord from heaven. To this day, as a symbolic gesture of this episode, one can see the sculptures of the Indra, Brahmma and Shiva on the western side of the complex housing the Lord. 

இந்திரனோடு பிரமன் ஈசன் இமையவர் எல்லாம்

மந்திர மா மலர் கொண்டு

மறைந்து உவராய் வந்து நின்றார்

சந்திரன் மாளிகை சேரும் சதுரர்கள் வெள்ளரை நின்றாய்

அந்தியம் போது இது ஆகும்

அழகனே காபிட வாராய் - Periyaazhvaar's Kaapidal

Some ground work had started at Thiru Vellarai in 2016 but the Madras High Court order restraining renovation in temples meant the work came to a grinding halt. The hereditary priests of the temple had told this writer in 2017 that they were all excited that their temple too would get a Raja Gopuram similar to the one at Srirangam but with the objections against the construction of the Raja Gopuram on the Northern side, the steps inside the then battered 2tiered Gopuram was abound with bats and there was disappointment all around. One of the priests had wished then to this writer pointing to the towering Raja Gopuram at Srirangam with the Rock Fort temple in its background that one day Thiruvellarai too would have a towering temple tower that the residents would be proud of.

Subsequently, with the High Court directing the appointment of a Panel to decide on the merits of renovation in temples, Thiru Vellarai seemed to get a life line with the Panel issuing an order to strengthen the existing structure at the Northern Entrance based on the technical reports. After the strengthening works of the existing structure, the donors, brothers Veeramani and Jayapal from Coimbatore (Unfortunately Veeramani, one of the brothers passed away) applied to the renovation committee that was satisfied with the strengthen of the base and gave the nod for the construction of the Raja Gopuram.

வென்றி மா மழுவேந்தி முன்மண்மிசை மன்னரை 

மூவேழுகால் கொன்ற தேவ 

நின் குரைகழல் தொழுவதோர் வகை, எனக்கருள் புரியே 

மன்றில் மாம் பொழில் நுழை தந்து, மல்லிகை மௌவலின் போதலர்த்தி 

தென்றல் மா மனம் கமழ் தரவரு, திருவெள்ளறை நின்றானே - Thiru Magai Azhvaar

Earlier this year, this section had featured a story on the intention of HRCE Minister  Sekar Babu (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/05/hr-ce-minister-sekar-babu-on-roll.html) to speed up restorations in temples. Two Divya Desams in the Chozha region saw rapid renovation exercises this year and recently consecration took place at Nachiyar Koil and Thiru Kannamangai. 

This week Sekar Babu, who this writer has seen in multiple temples as a sincere and quiet devotee, laid the foundation for the construction of the Raja Gopuram at Thiru Vellarai. Late on Saturday night, he told this writer in a conversation that the construction will go on at a rapid pace. He said that while there will be a lot of strenuous work involved as this is a huge construction, he is determined to see the seven tier Raja Gopuram come up as quickly as possible.

Sekar Babu confirmed to this writer that Jayapal from Coimbatore will be the exclusive donor for this exercise and that he will take up entire expenses of the Raja Gopuram that is estimated at close to Rs. 8crores.

A priest at the temple told this writer that the Raja Gopuram was likely to come up in two years. He was not sure if the Northern entrance would be shut completely once the work starts in a full fledged way. When the strengthening work of the base of the Gopuram took place, the Northern Entrance had been shut and devotees had to enter the temple through the Eastern Entrance.

Varadaraja Acharya, a descendent of Engal Azhvaan and a resident of Thiru Vellarai for several decades had told this writer a few years back that he was nonplussed at the delay as Lord Pundarikakshan will decide what is good for the devotees and that if he willed, the towering Raja Gopuram will come up someday. It looks like the Lord of Thiru Vellarai has finally given the green signal and devotees in all the nearby villages are all excited at the prospect of their temple sporting a towering Raja Gopuram sometime in the near future.

It has been a long time coming at Thiru Vellarai and the approval process has seen several hurdles over the last decade since the plan was first made. With Sekar Babu at the helm, temples in TN are seeing massive renovation exercises and the numbers (of temple renovations) are surging by the day. With the foundation stone laid this week, it looks like finally the new Raja Gopuram at Thiru Vellarai will be on its way. When complete, the 125 feet high Raja Gopuram at Thiru Vellarai will rank amongst the top five tallest towers on the Divya Desam list and thus in a matter of three and a half decades, Mottai Gopurams in two ancient temple towns near Trichy would have seen towering Raja Gopurams!!!

And when the Raja Gopuram at Thiru Vellarai does sport a new look, the hereditary priest would have seen his lifetime wish fulfilled…that of seeing a towering Raja Gopuram similar to the one at Srirangam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/11/venu-srinivasan-srirangam-temple.html).

Hopefully sometime in the near future, Thiru Vellarai will be back to its Golden Days as described by Periyazhvaar and Thiru Mangai Azhvaar.