Thanjavur Palace Venugopalaswamy temple Thiruvayaru

Prince Babaji Bhonsle is renovating the centuries old now dilapidated Venugopalan temple on Southern Banks of Cauvery in Thiruvayaru

Once consecration takes place, this temple, located opp the Munsiff Court, is likely to attract devotees in good numbers 

In June 2020, this section had featured a story on the challenging times the then new and young prince Babaji Rajah Bhonsle had faced in the mid 1980s and how he was able to overcome those at the turn of the century in the 88 temples under his administration (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/thanjavur-palace-babaji-rajah-bhonsle.html). Just a few months earlier, in February 2020, a grand consecration had taken place at the Big temple after over two decades. Along with Punnai Nallur Mariamman Temple, this was one of the two big income generating temples under his administration.  These two temples have seen a big financial turnaround and crowds are now thronging these temples after the Pandemic. 

However, while these two and a few other temples including the likes of Thanjai Maa Mani Koil Divya Desam, Punnai Nallur Kothandaramar and Karunaswamy Koil, Karunthittakudi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/02/karunaswamy-koil-karunthittaikudi.html) had been restored to its old glory, there were still a few temples that had remained in a dilapidated state. One such temple is the Venugopalaswamy temple on the Southern Banks of Cauvery near Thiruvayaru and a km North of Kalyanapuram Srinivasa Perumal temple.

Over the years, encroachers had taken over and the temple has been surrounded by temporary residential constructions. Earlier this year, Rajah Babaji Bhonsle took a  strong call to renovate the temple and bring back the old vibration that had been missing for quite sometime.
 
The temple is located opposite the Munsiff Court and hence could attract good devotee crowd once the reconstruction is completed and consecration takes place.
 
Work has begun in right earnest inside the temple complex. The path to the dilapidated temple had been thorny and no one could make their way to the temple in the past. However, over the last couple of months, a temporary path has been laid amid the encroached houses.
 

Encroachments abound around the temple complex

Encroachments to be removed

The challenge as with many other ancient temples is the issue of encroachment. The temple complex has a huge space but at the moment these are occupied by those who have made this their temporary home. Supervisor Ramesh who has been working at the Thanjavur Palace for well over two decades is waiting for the green signal from the Prince for him to go ahead and remove the encroachments. He has already alerted the residents that the plan is for a complete restoration of the Venugopalan temple under the instructions of the Rajah and hence the entire space belonging to the temple will be utilised for a fully functional temple. 

Only last month, this section had featured a story on how new age shops that had come up in recent decades at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam had been sealed  (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/08/srirangam-temple-popular-shops-shut-down.html).

It is expected that the encroachments near the Venugopalan temple will be removed within the next three months after the first phase work around the Moolavar Sannidhi is complete. This will pave the way for the construction of the prakara walls, one that will help devotees perform pradakshinam around the temple. Once the encroachments are removed, a proper pathway can also be built from the main road to the temple.

In 2025, one can expect a fully restored temple, with the resumption of daily Thiru Aradhanam and the celebration of festivals at this centuries old temple under the administration of the Thanjavur Palace.  And when that happens, it will be a real blessing to those residing south of the Cauvery, in Thiruvayaru.