Rajagopuram
Rajagopuram
Rajagopuram literally means Royal Tower, an entrance that is fit for royalty but especially for the God in the Temples. Many temples in India have four entrances with towers but usually one of them is a grand one. At SSVT the height of the Rajagopuram is 56 feet. But because of the additional steps one has to climb to reach the prakaram level, it actually appears to be more than 70 feet high. This is a most magnificent and grand view. It is made up of seven tiers or levels starting very widely at the base and narrowing as it goes up. It is capped by a grand topping adorned by 9 Kalasas.
Dakshinamoorthy/ Varaha Moorthy
The Front Tower starts off straight up from the floor at the prakara to ceiling level and is adorned with intricate Indianization with tall Dwarapalakas or Entrance Guards. The front door looks magnificent with extensive workmanship and an interesting twist reserved for visualization in site. Above the ceiling level, each tier has the Dwarapalakas on the East side and Dakshinamoorthy in slightly different forms on the south side, and various forms of Vishnu (Varaha Moorthy) on the north side.
Dakshinamoorthy
Varaha Moorthy
Mahasadasiva
Mahasudarshana
Mahasudarshana/ Mahasadasiva
On the east side of the Rajagopuram at the second and third tier levels, are two large figurines depicting MAHASADASIVA swarupa on the southern half and MAHASUDARSHNA swarupa on the northern half. At the top of the Front Tower two Nandhis adorn the southeast and southwest corners and two Garudas on the northeast and northwest corners. Similarly, Nandhi and Garuda, the Vahanas of Siva and Vishnu also occupy the top of the Dwajasthambhas inside the Vasantha Mandapam. On the east wall of the Vasantha Mandapam, there will be Dasavatharam (Ten Incarnations of Vishnu) and Siva Moorthis.
Sankaranarayana/ Rishabhakunjara
To depict the Unity of Siva and Vishnu, there is an architectural depiction of RISHABA KUNJARA (Bull and Elephant) in one silpa at the ceiling level. The top tier of the Rajagopuram portrays the combined form of Siva and Vishnu as SANKARANARAYANA symbolizing their Unity.
In addition, in order to continue to reaffirm the concept of UNITY IN DIVERSITY, SRI SIVA VISHNU TEMPLE has ONE RAJAGOPURAM for both SIVA AND VISHNU. This is a very unique yet elegant aspect of our Rajagopuram. The SSVT represents the concept of ONE BRAHMAN including Vishnu, Siva, Brahma and Sakthi under ONE ROOF and now ONE RAJAGOPURAM.
Sankaranarayana
Rishabhakunjara
