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Sri Sankara Vimana Mantab, Allahabad, UP triphobo.com
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The three story Sankara Vimana Mantap,, a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu gods was consecrated on 2 December 2018 at Prayag, Allahabad by Sri Kanchi Mutt pontiff Sri Jayaenderar. What is special about this unique temple that symbolizes the integration of Sakta-Shiva Vishnu concept is its right location at Prayag -Trivani Sangam, sanctified place of confluence of three rivers.- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati..
The massive structure, an engineering marvel, rises to a height of 130 feet from the ground supported by 30 pillars, each 39 feet in height. It was a well planned building executed with utmost care. Considering the nature of the terrain and loose soil, 16 wells were sunk to a depth of 50 feet into the river-bed.. The first floor of the mantap is Kamakoti peetam where the presiding deity is goddess Kamaksh in a sitting posture. The second floor is dedicated to God Vishnu and the deity Sri Venkatachalapathi is specifically made on the model of Sri Balaji idol in standing posture at Tirupaii,A.P. The third floor - the Rudraksha mandapam has a monolith massive Yoga Sahastra lingam, weighing 8 tons. Inscribed on ihe huge idol are 1008 lingams.The lingam
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| Sri Sankara Vimana Mantap, Allahabd, UP thehindu com |
is 100 foot tall with a diameter of 3 feet. The inscription on the lingams was done by sthapathis in the presence of senior pontiff of Kanchi at a village - Thenambakkam in the midst of chanting of mantra by pundits. Being a painstaking work, the sculptors spent 8 long months to complete the task. Only it was on March 13, 1986, the temple was consecrated by the late Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal, 69th Pitadipati of Sri Kamakoti Peetam. The work began in 1970 and the cost of construction - Rs. 60 lakhs was met through donations and gifts from the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam, the U.P. Government, other State Governments, etc. Since consecration had not been done for more than 3 decades Swami Jayenderar had the consecration work completed before Kumba Mela that came up in January 2019.
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Triveni Sangam, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, holidify.com
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In this connection the efforts made by senior pontiff way back should be recalled. A note-worthy feature about this lingam is the late 68th pontiff of Kanchi Mutt, TN Sri
Chanderasekara Saraswati Swamikal (Periyavar) long ago sanctified the lingm by performing abhishekam when he was camping at Satara, Maharashtra..Decades earlier, he took the initiative and committed himself to have a temple built at prayag. He began his long strenuous Padayatra with a large following. In July 1934, during the colonial period, he reached Prayag despite several impediments and reverentially consigned the sand collected from various holy places including Rameswaram accompanied by Vedic chants in the presence of dignitaries, local devotees and priests. Kanchi seer's efforts were on par with those of Adi Sankara of Kalady (Kerala), founder of the Sarvagnana Pitam, Sri Adi Sankarar founded Sankara math at many places propagating the essence of the
Advaita philosophy.. When at Prayag, while doing morning religious ablution, he was overwhelmed by the beauty of that place and decided to have a 3- story Sankara Vimana Mantab built there that could be visible to those who took a bath at the Sangam. Only in 1962 he revealed his long cherished vision. It was a difficult job to be undertaken in those days. Periyavar himself entrusted the job to well-known agama specialist, Ganapati Sthapati, to design and execute the construction.
