Rajagopuram
Rajagopuram literally means Royal Tower, an entrance that is fit for
royalty but especially for the God in the Temples.
Many temples in India have four entrances with towers but
usually one of them is a grand one. At SSVT the height of the
Rajagopuram is 56 feet. But because of the additional steps one has
to climb to reach the prakaram level, it actually appears to be more than
70 feet high. This is a most magnificent and grand view. It is made up of
seven tiers or levels starting very widely at the base and narrowing as it
goes up. It is capped by a grand topping adorned by 9 Kalasas.
Dakshinamoorthy
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Varaha Moorthy
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The Front Tower starts off straight up from the floor at the prakara to
ceiling level and is adorned with intricate Indianization with tall
Dwarapalakas or Entrance Guards. The front door looks magnificent with
extensive workmanship and an interesting twist reserved for visualization
in site. Above the ceiling level, each tier has the Dwarapalakas on the
East side and Dakshinamoorthy in slightly different forms on the south side,
and various forms of Vishnu (Varaha Moorthy) on the north side.
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Mahasudarshana
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Mahasadasiva
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On the east side of the Rajagopuram at the second and third tier levels,
are two large figurines depicting MAHASADASIVA swarupa on the southern half
and MAHASUDARSHNA swarupa on the northern half. At the top of the Front Tower
two Nandhis adorn the southeast
and southwest corners and two Garudas on the
northeast and northwest corners. Similarly, Nandhi and Garuda, the Vahanas of
Siva and Vishnu also occupy the top of the Dwajasthambhas inside the Vasantha
Mandapam. On the east wall of the Vasantha Mandapam, there will be Dasavatharam
(Ten Incarnations of Vishnu) and Siva Moorthis.
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Sankaranarayana
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Rishabhakunjara
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To depict the Unity of Siva and Vishnu, there is an architectural depiction of
RISHABA KUNJARA (Bull and Elephant) in one silpa at the ceiling level. The top
tier of the Rajagopuram portrays the combined form of Siva and Vishnu as
SANKARANARAYANA
symbolizing their Unity.
In addition, in order to continue to reaffirm the concept of UNITY IN
DIVERSITY, SRI SIVA VISHNU TEMPLE has ONE RAJAGOPURAM for both SIVA AND
VISHNU. This is a very unique yet elegant aspect of our Rajagopuram.
The SSVT represents the concept of ONE BRAHMAN including Vishnu, Siva,
Brahma and Sakthi under ONE ROOF and now ONE RAJAGOPURAM.
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"SEEING NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SRI SIVA AND SRI VISHNU IS KNOWLEDGE"
OM SHANTI ! SHANTI !! SHANTI !!!
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