Ramaswamy Temple is the Hindu Temple located in Kumbakonam in the Tamil Nadu State and is dedicated to the Lord Rama. The temple has the spectacular architecture and depicts the incarnation of the Lord Vishnu.

Lord Ram is considered the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu and hence the temple has splendid idols of Ram, Sita and Hanuman. The temple is surrounded by the gopurams and has spectacular views of the surroundings and the corridors. Other images that are located in the central shrine are of the brothers of Lord Rama.

The sculpted pillars and the corridors illustrate extreme finesse and have some of the stories from Ramayana. The Temple looks majestic and beautiful with the Mandap and sculptures, which gives a divine feel for all of the visitors. Various festivals are celebrated in the Sri Ramaswamy Temple in the month of October. People from the nearby areas participate in the utsavam during Vijaya Dashmi.

Legend

The Legends behind the construction of the temple are the Nayakkar Kings. Govinda Dikshitar constructed the temple, who was the main Minister of the Nayakkar Kings. He was a great devotee of the Lord Vishnu and wanted to build a temple for the Lord. The temple has been beautifully hand crafted which depicts the style of the Nayakkar Kings era. He also on his own took the liberty to add the corridors of the temple as he thought they may be used for the commercial purposes. The temple is located in the center of Kumbakonam.

History

The temple was constructed in the 16th Century by the King Raghunayak from Thanjavur. He was a devotee of the Lord Rama and when the king dug a holy tank near Kumbaonam he found the icons of Ram and Sita. As the idols were found during the process of digging the tank, the King thought he would respectfully built a temple for the Idols and hence called it as Ramaswamy Temple. He constructed the main mandap with all precious stones and intricate stone carving works. Each pillar is carved in single stones and are hand crafted. The temple is a typical Nayak Temple and has the pictorial representations of Ramayana on the three sides. The devotees can view the entire Ramayana when they take the Pradakshana.  

Architecture

The unique Nayak style architecture of the temple proves that each and every corner of the temple is a piece of art. The gopuram and the columns are very well sculpted. The Nayak style temples and their sculptures are larger in size and the postures are more dramatic. The figures of these periods are more in groups than individual figures. The pictorial representations of King Raghunath can be found on the walls of the temple.

Festivals

Sri Rama Navmi is celebrated during the March or April with special poojas and prasads. It is believed that Sri Rama and Mother Sita visit the Maga Magam Temple Tank for a bath and offer the Prasad to all people present there. Apart from these Hanuma Jayanthi and Vijaya DAshmi are celebrated in the temples on ahuge scale and local people can participated in rgese festivals.

Temple Rituals

The temple opens at 6.00 am – 12.00am and from 5.00pm - 8.30pm.

Best Time to visit

The best time to visit the temple is during the Ram Navmi and Vijaya Dashmi when a lot of pujas and prayers are performed by thousands of devotees.

How to Reach

By Train

All major trains stop at Kumbakonam and are well connected with the major cities.

By Air

Kumbakonam does not have an airport, but the nearest one can be Tiruchirapalli which is 77 km away.

By Road

The temple is just 2 km from Kumbakonam and lots of local buses can be used. They stop at the Ramaswamy temple itself.