Visual Treat

Enjoy the Photo Gallery... Thenkarai is a place where God spends His happiest moments...

(just click on the image to view full size)

Statue of a dancer who had sacrificed herself

Our lake always welcomes you with a smiling lilly.....



If you were born before centuries... you wouldn't get married, unless you lift any of these stones without jerk..



You can always see elephants playing like this... don't afraid...!! just in the sculpture on temple pillars only..



Array of cocconut trees see their beautiful face daily morning in the crystal clear lake water...



Sri Navaneetha Krishna Swami Temple at the south end of Agraharam.....



A channel from Vaigai river crawls along the backyard of houses in Agraharam...



A Paan (Betel leaves) farm......



A close look...will tempt you to eat..



Dawn and Dusk are green in colour only in Thenkarai....


Hope you enjoyed.... Please post your suggestions and comments...
Thank you.....

Welcome to Thenkarai.....

Welcome to Thenkarai -an ancient, beautiful and hitorically important village of the erstwhile Madurai Pandiyan Kingdom.....

Location:

Thenkarai is 25 Kilometers West from Madurai city and is situated in the South bank of river Vaigai comes under VadipattiTaluk, Madurai district of Tamil Nadu.

River Vaigai flows in North-South direction and so She is called here
as 'Dhakshina vaahini'. This is one of the speciality of Thenkarai which makes it a holly place...

Thenkarai is a "Swasthik" shaped village . The original name of Thenkarai is "Sendaneri Kattikallur", which is evidenced by theSangam age literature "Agananooru"  and a stone script of sadayavarman Chozha Pandiyan (a Pandiyan emperor) dated 1065 C.E. carved in Sri Moolanatha Swami temple, Thenkarai. But, Thenkarai gained an important position in the period of "Paraakirama Pandiayan"- the king who ruled this landscpae between 1087 - 1104 C.E. He built a check dam across the river Vaigai and channelled the water to the big lake and thus made this village fertile. In his period the village was called by his name as 'Paraakirama Pandiyapuram'. Even today, agriculture is the backbone of  the revenue of this village. 
Thenkarai was also called as 'Kulasekarapuram' during 1190 C.E. after the name of the king 'Kulasekarapandiyan'. It is suggested by historians that the name Thenkarai might have came in use during 'Nayakkar' period. Thenkarai was one of a village of "Chozhaanthaka Chaturvedimangalam", "Paraanthaka Chaturvedimangalam" and "Sananatha Chaturvedimangalam" during 8- 10 th century. Brahmins were highly encouraged by the king to settle in this village during this period and so the village was categorised as "Brahmadesam" (the name used to denote the villages donated by Kings to Brahmins).



Temple:

Thenkarai was constructed in a Swasthik shape with Sri Moolanatha swami temple in the centre. This Siva temple was renovated by a Pandiyan emperor "Veerapandiyan" in 946 C.E. and the structure was further extended between 1094- 1104 C.E. Lot of  historically very important stone scripts are found in the walls of this temple and is always a favourite place for historians and archealogists. The main deity of this temple is  "Sri Moolanatha Swami" and His divine consort "Sri Akilandeswari Amman".

   The whole temple complex has been constructed using hard granite, stricktly following the "Aagama Sastra"- the traditional science of temple construction tuned with nature. The temple was considered to be very old and the Lingam was installed and worshiped by the sage "Thirumoolar".

Thenkarai is mentioned in old scriptures as "Bilvaaranya Kshetram" because once this area was covered with "Bilvam" -a divine tree, leaves of which is offered to Lord Siva.


The temple also contains a pond with full of water round the year. The pond is called "Swarnaapjini" and there are stories about the 'Venkushtam' disease (Leprosy) of Pandiya king was cured by taking a dip at this holly pond and so many other miracles done by "Sri Moolanatha swami". "Bhilvaaranya Mahathmiyam" is a Palm script that details the mythic history and many interesting stories about this village.

Sringeri Sankara Mutt:

Branch of  Sringeri Sankara Mutt is in the Agraharam (Brahmin dwelling area). A beautiful white marble idol of Sri Adhi Sankaracharya, Sri Chakra and other deities for daily worship is also kept and poojas are performed regularly by a Pandit. ( I take the privilege to mention that our own native house was reformed as Sankara Mutt by Dharmatma Vaidhyasubramania Iyer family). This Mutt also serves as a community hall for Brahmins where all common functions are being held including Navarathri, Upakarmam etc..


Trusts: A charitable trust is being run by Sri Gopala Iyer family for the betterment of the villagers. Periodical free health camps, daily medical check-up with free medicine, free trainig classes for girls in tailoring, free tution for poor students, Sloka class for women...and a lot of good public service schemes are initiated and continuously being done by Dr. Vasudevan Iyer (USA).

Agriculture:  
Crops like paddy, coconut, plantain, paan which demands a more fertile land and surplus water are cultivated here. one can see the village is simply surrounded by Cocconut farms, river 'Vaigai' on one side and the big lake 'Sendaneri', Paddy fields and Banana plantations on the another side. Pawn leaves cultivated here has a special taste and high demand.