Temple car

Temple cars[1][2] are chariots that are used to carry representations of Hindu gods. The car is usually used on festival days, when many people pull the cart.

Stone temple car in the Vitthala Temple at Hampi, India.
Temple car in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The size of the largest temple cars inspired the Anglo-Indian term Juggernaut (from Jagannath), signifying a tremendous, virtually unstoppable force or phenomenon.

The procession of the Asia's largest and greatest temple car of Thiruvarur Thiyagarajar Temple in Tamil Nadu features prominently in an ancient festival held in the town. This festival, called Ratha Yatra, is a famous festival mainly observed in Eastern India. It is usually held annually in March and April, lasts more than 25 days, and is often mentioned in the devotional hymns of saints Tirugnanasambandar and Sundarar, as well as in Tamil literature. This great chariot is said to be the largest of its kind in height and weight, standing at 96 feet (29.26 m) tall and weighing more than 300 tons.

As of 2004, Tamil Nadu had 515 wooden carts, 79 of which needed repairs.[3] Annamalaiyar Temple, Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram Natarajar Temple are among the temples that possess these huge wooden chariots for regular processions. The Natarajar Temple celebrates the chariot festival twice a year; once in the summer (Aani Thirumanjanam, which takes place between June and July) and another in winter (Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai, which takes place between December and January). Lord Krishna of Udupi has five temple cars, namely Brahma ratha (the largest), Madya ratha (medium), kinyo (small), and the silver and gold rathas.

List of places with Temple cars


List of temples/cities having Golden cars

Puducherry

Karnataka
  • Sri Krishna matha, Udupi
  • Shri Durga Parameshwari temple, Kateel
  • Shri Mahabaleshwar temple, Gokarna

Tamil Nadu

Andhra Pradesh
  • Lord Shiva temple
  • Narasimhaswami temple and tirumala Sri vari ratham

See also

References
  1. Rajarajan, R. K. K.; Rajukalidoss, Parthiban. "Nāyaka Chefs-d'oeuvre: Structure and Iconography of the Śrīvilliputtūr Tēr". Acta Orientalia.
  2. Rajarajan, R. K. K. "Iconographic Programme in Temple Cars: A Case Study of Kūṭal Alakar tēr". East and West, Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO), Rome.
  3. "Government of Tamil Nadu Welcomes You". tn.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012.
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