Top 12 Largest Temples of India

 

12 Largest Temples of India

The temple is an integral part of our cultural heritage. All the kings-built temples and worshiped with the help of Brahmins. It costs a lot of money so temples can be built by King only. The design and location of the temple were checked by themselves and after much deliberation, the construction work of the temple began. The king who built the as big temple was called the as big king. Many kings used to build grand temples to hide their wealth. There were many secret routes in the temple. There few biggest temples in India built by the great kings, and some temples we don't know who built, but even eminent in history.

1.   Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Tamilnadu: The largest temple of India, devoted to Lord Ranganatha which is also known as Vishnu Bhagwan. The temple located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, India. The Temple was first Built by Dharma Varma Chola Then, there is a flood in the Kaveri river which destroyed the temple and later the Cholas King Killivalavan Rebuilt the temple complex present today. Temple covers an area of 155 acres. It has 50 shrines, 39 pavilions, and nine sacred water pools, 21 towers carved with beautiful sculptures and shrines. The temple is on the bank of the river Kaveri which is also known as "Dakshin Ganga or Ganges of South". The temple is surrounded by the Kaveri River which enhances the beauty of the temple. Temple is under the care of the Tamilnadu Government. It has a puranic story, according to people, lord Ram worshiped for a long time, and after he secured a win over demon Ravana, thereafter he gifted the temple to Vibhishan. 

2.     Sri Jagannath Temple, Orissa: The Jagannath temple devoted to Bhawan Krishna and it is located in Puri in Orissa. This temple covered the area of 10.7 acres and construction of the temple begun by King Indradyumna, of the Malva dynasty. The temple is full of many engineering mysteries but that is unknown yet. The site of the Jagannath temple has never been declared as a no-fly zone. Still, for some strange reason, no birds or planes fly above the temple. The temple flag waves in the reverse direction of the wind. It says the flag has to change daily otherwise temple shall have been closed for 18 years. Some attribute this phenomenon to the divine force. The temple is one of the Hindu Char Dham including; Badrinath, Rameswaram, Dwarka. Jagannath is worshiped as Balabhadra, Narayan, Vishnu, and Krishna.

3. Akshardham Temple, Delhi:

The Akshardham temple is devoted to Bhagwan Sri Swaminarayan. The breath-taking Akshardham Temple in Delhi has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the 'World's Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple'. Spread over 30 acres. The temple is constructed by Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) inspired by HH Yogiji Maharaj. It is surrounded by Narayan Sarovar, which water collected from the 151 water bodies of India. It has a lotus garden and the world's largest Yagnapurush Kund means yagna Kund and the temple is a prominent landmark in the city. 

4.     Vaitheesvaran Koli Temple, Tamilnadu: Vaitheeswaran Koil is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Shiva located at Chidambaram city in Tamilnadu. Shiva worshiped as Vaitheeswaran or the "God of Healing" and it is believed that that prayer to Vaitheeswaran can cure all the diseases. It is one of the nine Navagraha temples associated with the planet Mars (Angaraka). The temple received contributions from various rulers of the region like Vikrama Chola, Vira Rajendra Pandya, Achuthappa Nayak (1560 - 1614 AD) and Maratha prince Thulaja. The temple has five inscriptions mainly belonging to the period of Kulothunga Chola I.  The area of the temple is 10.7 acres.

5.    Meenakshi Amman Temple, Tamilnadu: The Temple is devoted to the deity Parvati. The Meenakshi temple situated in the ancient city of Madurai was built by the Pandyan king, Kulashekarar. This 2500 years old temple has a glorious past which dates back to 1560. It was designed by Vishwanatha Nayak. This temple complex area is 6 acres. The Meenakshi temple is one of the most famous temples because of its great architecture and religious value. The Temple has a huge hall which consists of 1000 pillars and every pillar carved with various sculptures. The most interesting thing is Meenakshi Temple is the presence of an estimated 33000 sculptures in it. Meenakshi Mandir is especially famous for the huge sculpture of the Nataraj, which is built on a silver altar.

6.     Birla Mandir, Delhi: Birla Mandirs are the great initiatives by Birla Family. The First Birla mandir constructed at Delhi at a prominent place, because Delhi was ruled by Mughal and there no temple in Delhi, so Birla build the first known temple as Birla Temple in Delhi also known as Laxmi Narayan Temple. Like same build in Bhopal also thereafter many cities at a prominent location.  Delhi Temple built-in 1939 over the 7.5-acre area with 2000 Ton of white marble. Construction of temple in pure white marble or in red sandstone is the specialty of Birla Temple. Till now 19 Birla Mandir constructed at various places in India. 

7.     Belur Math, West Bengal: Belur Math is the Headquarter of Ramkrishna Mission founded by Swami Vivekanand in January 1935. It is located on the west bank of Hooghly River, Belur, West Bengal, India and is one of the significant institutions in Kolkata. Belur Math campus is on 40 acres of land. Swami Vijnananda was the designer of Belur math Temple. The statue of Sri Ramakrishna is built on 100 petalled lotus over a Damaru shaped marble. Swami Ramkrishna's sacred remains are preserved at this place. Swami Vivekananda temple is built on the location where his remains are cremated in 1902. The Sarada Devi temple also built which is known as "The Holy Mother" she was the wife of Sri Ramakrishna. 

8.     Dakshineswar Kali Temple, West Bengal: Dakshineshwar Kali is a historical Hindu Temple which is located at the bank of Hoogly River at Kolkatta, West Bengal. The temple was devoted to Kali Maa and built in 20 acres of a plot by Rani Rashmoni in 1855. Rani Rashmoni was a holi lady. Once she decided to go for a pilgrimage to Kashi. It says as, in a dream, goddess monther told no need to go to Kashi, construct a temple here itself. To inspired by the dream Rani Rashmoni bought the land and built a historic renowned temple. 

9.     Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Tamilnadu: Rajagopalaswamy Temple dedicated to Lord Krishna. This temple constructed in 23 acres, and first built by Kulothunga Chola, then expanded by Thanjavur Nayak. Temple is located in the town of Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu. There is a big tank at the entrance of the shrine where rainwater is collected. The temple complex has 16 gopurams, 7 prakarams (outer courtyard), 24 shrines, seven mandapams (halls), and nine sacred theerthams (temple tanks). The entrance temple tank is called Haridra Nadhi, making it one of the largest temple tanks in India. The shrine of Sengamalathayar is located in the second precinct around the sanctum. The temple has a thousand pillared hall.

10.  Nellaiappar Temple, Tamilnadu: Nellaiappar temple is devoted to Lord Shiva. The temple is located on the northern banks of the Thamirabarani River in the Tirunelveli district in Tamilnadu.  Temple is constructed in an area of 14.5 acres. The original complex is believed to have been built by Pandyas, while the present masonry structure was added by Cholas, Pallavas, Cheras, and Madurai Nayaks in their time. There is a flower garden in the center of the temple. In the center of the garden, there is a square Vasantha mandapam with 100 pillars. It is said that this whole place used to be full of bamboo trees and it was destroyed, and so inside the temple, they still have some bamboo trees.

11.  Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tamilnadu: Brihadisvara temple is a holy temple divine to Lord Shiva. The temple was built by Raja Raja Chola on 44.7 acres situated on the South Bank of the Kaveri river in Thanjavur, Tamilnadu. The construction and architecture of this temple are unique. The main temple is entirely constructed by a totally granite stone of 130000 Tons. On top of the temple, there is one granite stone kept of weight 80 tons, and all four corners have the granite Nandi. On top of the temple, a granite dome placed of 25ton. The statue of Nandi at the entrance of the temple is carved out of a single stone. What astounds historians is that there was not a single granite quarry in about 100 km radius of the temple. This means that transporting these stones would have been a herculean task. 

12.  Annamalaiyar Temple, Tamilnadu: Annamalaiyar Temple is one of the largest Shiv temples in India. This temple represents the Agni element of five Pancha Bootha sthalas. It is constructed in 25 acres and located at the base of Arunachala hill in the town of Thiruvannamalai in Tamilnadu. This temple is built by the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions by Sangama Dynasty, the Saluva Dynasty, and the Tuluva Dynasty. There are four gateways on all four sides. Once Lord Shiva challenged Lord Vishnu and Bramha to find the source of light in the universe, but none of them found the source of light. While Vishnu accepted the defeat, Bramha lied that he found the source; as a result, Shiva punished Bramha that he will never have temples to worship him. Due to this every day there is Mahadeepam celebrated every day. The nearby villagers are never lit the lamp in their house, before Mahadeepam in the temple.