Healing Touch at Gunaseelam Temple Trichy Tamil Nadu
This post is on Gunaseelam Temple Trichy where it is believed that mental ailments get cured. I had heard that devotees line up inside the temple at particular time of the day when the main temple purohit comes sprinkling holy water on face. Visiting the temple and seeing the devotees wait patiently was a touching experience.
In Hinduism practiced in India, it is not mandatory for a person to visit a temple. They install puja rooms (shrines) at home for daily prayers. Yet temples outside are important because these are meeting places for the community to congregate and revitalize their spiritual energies. There are temples dedicated to different Gods of Hindus. Some of these centuries old temples are reputed and blindly believed to cure people of different ailments.
Idols in niche inside temple
Gunaseelam Temple for Mental Ailments
It is a sight to behold when people with their ailing family members queue up with up turned faces to receive that splash of holy water.
So with a desire to see and experience this holy ceremony I planned a halt at Gunaseelam Temple during my trip to Srirangam recently.
Devotees waiting for sacred water at Gunaseelam temple Trichy
Popular Belief about Gunaseelam Temple
This temple is so popular and revered that people from far and near visit the temple to pray and hope for miracle.
Visit and offering prayers at the temple is believed to be a curative to mentally challenged people. Relatives bring them to the temple and keep them in the temple premises for 48 days. They participate in everyday prayers and rituals.
At the end of the 48 days it is believed that their illness is cured by the grace and blessings of the presiding deity, Lord Prasanna Venkatachalapathi.
main door of shrine
Mental Rehabilitation at Gunaseelam
There is a mental health rehabilitation center nearby. It has the official stamp of the Tamil Nadu Government license. This blog post is based on what I have seen and heard. I know no one who has been cured thus. Neither do I claim that somebody can be cured thus. But I do believe: Faith moves Mountains!
Temple Architecture and Facts
The exteriors look very simple. The conical vimana above the central shrine is called Trinetra vimana owing to its 3 tiers. Stucco sculptures on the vimana depict Narasimha on eagle vahana Garuda and an image of Vishnu with Shankha and Chakra.
The idol of the presiding deity inside the temple is Lord Prasanna Venkatachalapathy. (Therefore this temple is also called Prasanna venkatachalapathy Temple.) Lord here is in standing posture. The image is depicted with four hands – right hand showing Abhaya mudra and other carrying the weapon Gada. Left hands carrying conch and Chakra.
Various niches around the sanctum have images of different Gods like Narasimha, Navaneetha Krishna, Varaha, Sridevi and Bhudevi. With several contributions and facelift given to the temple, it has no resemblance to what it was few decades back. The interior floors are covered with modern tiles. Many new paintings and sculptures adorn the temple walls.
Gunaseelam Temple Information
Gunaseelam Temple Timings
Every day Pooja Timings: 6 AM to 12.30 PM and 4.30 PM to 8.30 PM
Festival Dates in Gunaseelam Temple:
-Teppa Tiruvizha (Boat Festival): Chitra Poornima day in April-May, as per Hindu calendar
-Srirama Navami: March-April, the 9th day of the first month of the Hindu calendar
-Gokul Ashtami: 8th day of the month of Bhadrapada as per Hindu Calendar
-annual Brahmotsavam, the most important festival here. It is an eleven-day festival celebrated in the months of Sept to October
Gunaseelam Temple Contact Info
Phone Number: 91-04326-275310
email: info@gunaseelamtemple.com
Gunaseelam Temple Location
Gunaseelam Temple Trichy Address:
State Highway 25, Next to Syndicate Bank & ATM, Gunaseelam, Tamil Nadu 621604
Coordinates: 10.902843255861137, 78.5674631693158
How to Reach Gunaseelam Temple
By Road
Gunaseelam Temple is easily approachable from nearby cities by road. Here are the distances and time required to reach the temple by road:
Trichy to Gunaseelam Temple distance – 28.5 km by road 38 min
Bengaluru to Gunaseelam Temple distance – 297 km by road 6 hr 11 min
Chennai to Gunaseelam Temple distance – 369 km 7 hr 34 min
Mysuru to Gunaseelam Temple distance – 314 km 6 hr 52 min by road
Madurai to Gunaseelam Temple distance – 153 km 2 hr 34 min by road
By bus:
If you are travelling by bus from these major cities you have to alight at Manjakorai Bus stop, WH35+HCG, Trichy Main Rd, Gunaseelam, Tamil Nadu 639115.
Distance from Manjakorai Bus stop to Gunaseelam Temple is 1.1 km, takes 3 min by auto or taxi from the bus stop to the temple.
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- Image of Lord Prasanna Venkatachalapathy
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- Picture from Dinamalr.com
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- Idols in niche inside temple
statue of lion outside temple
History and Legend of Gunaseelam Temple
(for spiritually inclined readers)
The foundations of the present structure of Gunaseelam Perumal Kovil came up during early Chola period. However the legends around this temple go back to Dwapar Yuga. Thaalpiya Maharishi along with his disciple once went to the Himalayas. On their way bay his disciple stayed back at Tirupati.
He was so attracted to Lord Venkatachalapathy that he wanted the Lord to appear in his village Gunaseelam and bless the devotees. He returned and undertook severe penance in his ashram in Gunaseelam. Impressed with his sincerity, the Lord appeared before him along with Goddess and promised to remain here till the end of Kali Yugam.
However the story doesn’t end here. At the end of the Dwapara Yugam, the Maharishi left for Naimisaaranyam giving the responsibility of offering pooja (prayers) to his disciple. Unfortunately floods in River Cauvery and dangerous animals in the forest led the disciple to flee the place and thus the prayers offered here came to an abrupt end.
Idols in niche inside temple
The Lord decided to hide himself in a pit. Fast forward several years… Chola king Nyana Varma, who ruled this place with Uraiyur as the capital, used to visit Gunaseelam regularly. Every day, cowherds would milk the cows from near the pit and carry the milk all the way back to his court.
Unusually one day all milk disappeared and voice desired that the reigning king should dissolve the pit with milk. Pleased with this Vaikunta Vasudevan is said to have appeared before the king as Prasanna Venkatesan. Lord accepted the request of the king to till the end of Kali Yugam and help fulfil all the prayers of the devotees.
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That is a really beautiful place of worship. The trip would be worth go their to be wraps in the spirits.
Thank you so much for sharing the information and beautiful, beautiful pictures/video. It was very nice of you! hugs….
Nice to be introduced to a new temple. Faith is good – it helps people cope with things and sometimes to do nothing practical about them. But to each his own. Whatever makes sense.
A great article about a faith that is strong that it changes our worlds! Truly inspiring! Keep it up!
Faith is the strongest and can do wonders with complete belief in it. Quite an informative post and as this, each temple has its own miracles it brings. Thanks for sharing.
Such a lovely read! I can already imagine the energy emanating from people who goes there.
Such a wonderful place to get a healing touch or impulse.
Best, Synnöve
Very interesting, I’ve never heard of this temple and the fact that it can cure mental illness! Not that I believe in these things to be honest but it’s definitely intriguing to read the kind of things that happen in our country.
I didn’t know that about Hinduism that you don’t need to visit a temple. I really like that though, it seems to focus more on your personal spiritual connection as opposed to forcing you to congregate with others if you don’t feel you need to. But Gunaseelam Temple sounds like an incredible place, and it would be so special to witness a ritual / festival here. We visited Lourdes in France a while ago, and it was such an intense atsmophere, intense in a good way – with the many hundreds of pilgrims who came from all over the world to bathe in the healing waters here. I don’t know how to describe it but it’s like you could feel the spirituality and electricity from everyone’s hope and belief in the air. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
I really love how you worded this: “Yet temples are important because these are meeting places for the community to congregate and revitalize their spiritual energies.” Very powerful and very important. I’m always fascinated by the power of belief and it’s affect over people seeking healing from suffering or pain. I love these temples and spirituality behind them.
This is the first time I am hearing about Gunaseelam temple and it for sure is an interesting read. India is a hub of historical temples and there are few; where such rituals are practiced. I myself have seen one near Salasar in Rajasthan. Just hope that people who believe really gets cured.
Interesting read and I have learnt about Hinduism. I did not know it is not compulsory to go to a temple. It is nice people believe and I hope mental ailments really get cured.
I had heard of Gunasheelam but never really known the story behind it. It was fascinating to read that. Besides the legend itself, I like the whole architecture bit here, which is probably why I would visit this place. Your cliffhanger statement at the end has prompted me to get to Wiki. Heading there now.
Seriously?? I had never heard of this temple and personally will never visit if I have some mental ailment but then there are faiths and beliefs which we can not deny. 🙂
Quite an interesting thing to know about the temple. It’s an extraordinary display of devotion, worship and belief.
Is the treatment open during annual Brahmotsavam?
Hi Nisha, there is no treatment inside the temple. Only prayers. Priests offer prayers at specific times of the day, the holy water is sprinkled on devotees who line up there.
Ah, never knew about this temple. Putting it on my list to visit as and when I go back to Trichy. Did you speak to anyone undergoing treatment there. I think people can be cured both by faith and by love & care.
It’s always very interesting for me to read about temples and the traditions and rituals that come with it. Whenever I travel somewhere and I know I can find temples or other holy places to visit, I don’t think twice and do it. These are amazing experiences in which I learn so many new things
This is such an interesting read! I had no idea that temple visits weren’t compulsory — love that there are home shrines. I’d like to visit a temple to heal.
I love the idea of a temple that can heal. It would be great to hear some stories of people who think they have been healed. It might have a bigger influx of tourists then though….
In-depth article indeed. Very well presented and great guide. This post has maintain the interest till the end.
I like how you always go in depth with each post. I loved the story behind the temple.
I have been to Srirangam but nobody gave me an hint about this temple. Very interesting.
Very nice post and pictures.
I was not aware of this temple.. thanks a lot for sharing such interesting facts about it!
The temple is beautiful. Thanks for the informative post.
Fascinating. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Lovely temple.
Great to read the details, Indrani.
I learned a lot from this post. I didn’t even know that it wasn’t compulsory to visit the temple. I’m sure the energy at the Gunaseelam Temple can be felt from all over.
I’ve always been really fascinated by holy places like Gunaseelam Temple Trichy where they claim that ailments can be cured. I visited Lourdes in France, where it’s thought that the holy waters can heal disabilities, and it was a spectacular site to witness a mass and the pilgrimage of thousands of people who sought a miracle. The energy was intense.
The annual Brahmotsavam sounds like it would be similar to what I saw in Lourdes – an extraordinary display of devotion, worship and hope. That type of belief when displayed by such masses really does have a physical effect on the atmosphere.
Each temple in India has a story around it. You left us in middle of the story, now have to read at Wii. Curious about it. 🙂
South India is particularly rich with these traditions and since the temples and monuments have been so much more well preserved historically. And that is such a fantastic legend. It goes back to the Dwapar Yuga, you say! Wow.
Beautiful description about Gunaseelam Temple.
Amazing! Yes, faith does move mountains. Very well presented.
Such an interesting temple and a deep history behind it. It must be very popular to the locals…. if you have different religion can you still visit this place?
Yes you can. At least I am not aware of any restrictions there.
So many details about this temple, the 48 days of time for cure…so many believes exist.
Did not know much about this temple, thanks for sharing with beautiful captures.
There is no better way to learn about a culture (your own or another) than its rituals. Before going to Thaipusam in Penang, I researched it high and wide, but even all that could not prepare me for the real thing. I suspect it’s the same with Gunaseelam and what takes place there. And what a beautiful temple to boot!
Interesting post about Gunaseelam Temple. I have never been close to a place like this and I’m really curious to witness Hinduism closer. Thank you for the post!
Thanks for sharing the blog on Gunaseelam Temple. It’s always fascinating to learn about other countries cultures and beliefs. You really helped with your article. Thank you
I didn’t know it is not compulsory for a person to visit a temple in Hinduism. Such a great fact and one that will stay with me. Gunaseelam looks beautiful and I love all the historic and religious facts you’ve shared as I feel like I understand its purpose and context more, even though I don’t know much about the Hindu faith.
Interesting! I know very little about Hinduism, so it’s cool to learn a bit more about their traditions. The temple looks beautiful!
What an interesting and detailed post about an interesting place of worship! Thank you for the details on location including time to get there from Bangalore. Also knowing the opening hours is very handy for visiting and when the festival takes place annually!
This is so informative! I have just been to Chennai….yet explore Tamil Nadu. Thanks for sharing ?
Loved to read about Gunaseelam Temple as it is has great healing touch. I believe on these things, because you said it correctly faith moves mountains. I went to Trichy in my childhood but could not visit this this temple. I really missed a lot. But next time will surely visit this temple.
What a lovely read. Really, I believe it can heal. In the absence of technology and science medicine, people would have relied on this. And like you said, faith can move mountains. Also, it’s interesting to me to see how people in India have so much attachment to their culture even years after colonizations. I love India for that. I’d sure make a stop too at the Gunaseelam Temple.
Very interesting article about the temple and the faith n beliefs of people.
Presently,I am collecting such information on the temples of southern India n hope to visit them soon.
Thanks for the article.
Didn’t know about this temple, thanks for sharing. I too believe that faith moves mountains
Quite interesting to know ababout the temple! The Lord Prasanna Venkatachalapathy looks so divine with oil lamps at the background. Thanks for the information, Indrani 🙂
Great to read about Gunaseelam Temple . Thanks a lot for the informative post. Beautiful pics.