Abhimana Kshethram or Abhimana Sthalam are a list of 108 sacred
Vishnu temples apart from the other 108
Divya desams. Abhimana desams or close abodes, these temples are the most significant temples in the
Vaishnavite tradition which has similar greatness as
Divya Desams. These set of temples is classified as an Abhimana Kshethram as it is mentioned in Various
Puranas and
Ithihasas such as
Ramayana and
Mahabharata and have Significant
Sthala Puranas based on the
Ithihasas and Various
Puranas of
Hinduism . The temples are also said to be visited by many Religious scholars and saints such as
Ramanuja,
Adi Shankara,
Madhvacharya,
Nathamuni,
Yamunacharya,
Vedanta Desika,
Manavala Mamunigal,
Purandara Dasa,
Narayana Teertha,
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and by many other great Vedic teachers and
Rishis. Some of these Temples are said to be visited by the
Alvars who did not sing the god's grace due to various reasons.[1] Out of these 108 temples
Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi is considered as the 1st out of the 108 Abhimana Kshethras as
Thirumangai Alvar is believed to have visited the temple and is believed to have built the tall flag post outside the temple with the help of cotton bales. The other Alvars who are believed to have visited the temple at various periods were seemingly lost in under the beauty of the presiding deity and were at a loss for words.[1]
Legend
There were many old and highly important temples which were not sung by the
Alvars in their Naalayira Divya Prabandham hence, not classified as a Divya desam which made many Vaishnava scholars sad.
Nathamuni,
Madhvacharya,
Ramanuja,
Vedanta Desika and many other
Vaishnavate scholars classified another sect of temples called Abhimana Kshethras. These temples are so close to the heart of Maha Vishnu hence, called Abhimana desam.[2][3][4][5] These temples are classified as 108 Temples as various
Vaishnavite Acharayas,
Alvars and Various
Rishis of puranas and ithihas glorify them.
List of Abhimana Kshethrams
This is the list of the 108 sacred Temples dedicated to various forms of Vishnu the supreme deity of
Vaishnavism. These 108 Abhimana Kshethras are present only in
India.
^Neevel, Walter G. (1977). Yāmuna's Vedānta and Pāñcarātra: Integrating the Classical and the Popular, p.15. Issue 10 of Harvard theological review. Harvard dissertations in religion. Scholars Press.
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