Thennagur Temple

From that time onwards it had been a dream of swami Haridas Giri to build a temple for the Lord in Thennaangur. He installed the idols from Pandarpur as the main idols. We can also find a 10 ½ feet tall Panduranga and 8 ½ feet high Raghumayi in the broad and well-lit sanctum sanctorum. Closer to this is a panchaloka idol of Lord Varadaraja along with his consorts. Another rare feature of this temple is that we can find an ancient idol of Achutharaya Perumal, brought from Tirupati, which cannot be found anywhere else. Along with these the golden idols worshipped by Swami Haridas Giri is also installed here. The graceful appearance of the Lord in the intricately carved sanctum sanctorum is a feast for the eyes. Yet another distinct feature of this temple is that the Lord is adorned in different attires on different days. It is nija paatha dharisanam on Thursdays, and the Lord gives audience wearing silver kavachas and ornaments on Fridays. On Sundays He appears like a Maharaja of Rajasthan. The graceful appearance of the Lord in the intricately carved sanctum sanctorum is a feast for the eyes. Yet another distinct feature of this temple is that the Lord is adorned in different attires on different days. It is nija paatha dharisanam on Thursdays, and the Lord gives audience wearing silver kavachas and ornaments on Fridays. On Sundays He appears like a Maharaja of Rajasthan.

This Thennaangur temple is an architectural splendor. The 120 feet tall Rajagopuram is built in the South Indian style and the sparkling golden kalasam itself is ten feet high. The 'vimana' above the sanctum sanctorum is designed like that of the Jagannath Temple at Puri in Orissa. The deities have been sculpted in a technique called sila which had its origin in Maharashtra. This temple also houses a few large pillared halls or mantaps. In one of these halls we can find fibreglass paintings of Lord Krishna and also some intricate carvings in fibreglass which cannot be found anywhere in India.

Among the four seats of authority established by Sri Adi Sankara, one is the Jyothir Mutt in Badrinath. The sixth head of this mutt ('peetathipathi') swami.Gnananda Giri entrusted the responsibilities of the ashram to his disciples and went to the Himalayas. One of his chief disciples swami.Haridas Giri was on a pilgrimage around Pandarpur to spread his guru's message. During this time his guru came in his dream and asked him to reach Pandarpur. When swami Haridas Giri reached Pandarpur, the 'Panda' or the priest informed him that he also dreamt of swami Gnanananda Giri asking him to hand over the idols of Lord Panduranga and Goddess Raghumayi to his disciple and it was done accordingly.

To the left of the temple garden, which is behind the temple, is the shrine of Maha Hodasa Devi the chief deity of the Jyothir Mutt. Here the Goddess appears with 12 hands, which depicts that She is the performer of five duties of creation, protection, destruction, extinction and disposition to grace.