Uttamarseeli Sri Venugopalaswamy Temple

Uttamarseeli is a small village  located 13kms from Srirangam on the way to Kallanai ( Grand Anicut) in Tiruchirappalli district.  Daily town bus facility is available on regular intervals from Tiruvanaikoil bus stop to Kallanai. Uttamarseeli is only a few bus stops ahead of Kallanai Dam. Srirangam is known for being the island surrounded by Cauvery and Kollidam rivers - Cauvery splits into cauvery and kollidam tributaries to surround Sri Ranganathar as a garland and then rejoins into one Cauvery river again further east. Uttamarseeli is also situated in this same piece of island. 

In the serene village of Uttamarseeli, surrounded by paddy fields, is a temple for Sri Venugopala Swamy. I am not aware who built this temple. But the temple has been there even before my grandfather's time period, more than 150 years ago. This temple has been our native deity (kula deivam). The main moorthy of the temple is Sridevi Boodevi samedha (on either side) Sri Venugopalan playing a flute. On the left side of the main sanctoram, on the outer prakaram, is a separate mandap/sannidhi for Goddess Aravinda Nayaki Thayar.  There is a Madappalli (temple kitchen), temple well and a Garudan sannidhi as in any other Vishnu temple. Apart from these, there are also moorthys for Sri Ramanujar, Hanuman, etc.  No separate sannidhis though.

Taking photographs of the main moorthys is not allowed. The original Venugopala Swamy stone moorthy's hand broke many years ago and the moorthy currently at the temple was made and reinstalled at the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The old broken moorthy's hand was fixed but the deity has to be installed outside the main garbagraham on the right side. That old moorthy of Krishna playing a flute with fixed hand is the one shown in my youtube presentations. 

Inside the temple premises, on the outer prakaram, is plenty of free space where some tulasi garden is grown for pooja purposes. There are also few floral plants, trees and the rest is grass. The local sheperd lets the cows graze here during day time.   

There are no shops outside or near the temple selling puja/archanai materials. We take with us whatever puja materials are required when we go. There is a small cottage built for the temple priest few yards outside the temple premises. The village itself is just one narrow street with houses on either side. No tar roads. 

As a kindergartner, I remember there was a thatha (old man) who used to be the priest. At that time, the temple aslo had Utsava moorthys of two thayars samedha Venugopalan. In the late 80s, this priest sleeping outside the temple in his cot was murdered at night time and the Utsava moorthys were stolen. The temple then had no priests for few years. Years later, the Utsava moorthys were recovered by the police. Since the temple is little aloof from the main town of Tiruchy and deemed unsafe, the Utsava moorthys were handed over to Tiruvanaikoil Jambukeshwarar temple's custody by Tamilnadu Government. Ever since, the Utsava moorthy vigrahas have always been in Tiruvanaikoil temple. They are brought to Uttamarseeli with full police protection only during grand occasions at the temple. The Uttamarseeli temple was renovated in early 2000s. The temple now also has a full time priest. 

I heard the temple was looted a month ago. Chadari and few ornaments were stolen. 

The temple is a calm and beautiful one with its own charm of village surroundings. We get enormous peace sitting in solitude meditation in front of the black monolithic idol. When the wind blows, we sometimes hear the flute in his bliss. 

Jai Sri Krishna.