108 Divya-deshams

BY: SUN STAFF

Vishnu and Lakshmi attended by Garuda and Attendants
Chromolithograph, c. 1883

Nov 26, 2023 — CANADA (SUN) — A tour of the 108 Divya-desams, the divine abodes of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi.

The Vaisnava Divya-desams are 108 transcendental abodes of Lord Vishnu and his consort, Laksmi Devi. They are also known as Bhuloka Vaikuntham. In Sanskrit, divya means "divine" and desam is "realm". 105 of the Divya-desams are in India, and one in Nepal. Another is located in Tirupparkatal (Kshira Sagara, the Ocean of Milk) and the last resides in Vaikuntha. These temples are mentioned in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, comprised of 4,000 Tamil verses written by the 12 Vaisnava Alvars.

Of the 105 Divya-desams in India, 84 are located in Tamil Nadu, 11 in Kerala, 2 in Andhra Pradesh, 1 in Gujarat, 4 in Uttar Pradesh, and 3 in Uttarakhand. Tiru Saligramam (Muktinath) is located Nepal. They are also categorized by these six regions:

Chera Nadu
Chola Nadu
Pandya Nadu
Pallava Nadu
Vada Nadu, and
Vinnulaga Divya Desams

The Sri Divya Prabandham sings the praises of Narayana (Vishnu) and His many forms and pastimes. The Alvars sang these songs at various sacred shrines, or Divya-desams. The Tamil Vaishnavites follow the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda, as well as the Tiruvaymoli of the Sri Vaisnavas.

At many of the Divya-desam temples, such as Srirangam, the chanting of Divya Prabandham forms a major part of daily worship. It is also recited in some North Indian Vaishnava temples, including Badrinath. Sri Ramanujacarya enshrined Divya Prabandham as being on the same pedestal as the Vedas.

We begin tomorrow with a visit to the first, and very famous Divya-desam, Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam.

Sources: Temple Purohit, Sarva Sastra Maha Vidyalaya, Wikipedia

The Sun News Editorials Features Sun Blogs Classifieds Events Recipes PodCasts

About Submit an Article Contact Us Advertise HareKrsna.com

Copyright 2005, 2023, HareKrsna.com. All rights reserved.