Once upon a time, the great philosopher Adi Sankara established a mutt at Sringeri located on the banks of holy river Tunga and consecrated Goddess Saraswathi in the form of Sharadhambal. Very quickly the cult of Goddess Sharadha and the fame of the Sringeri spread far and wide. Contributions of the Pontiffs of Sringeri in spreading human virtues like love, devotion, dedication, unity, etc. were enormous. As a result of the same, temples for Sharadhambal were constructed all over our the country. Great empires like Vijayanagar were founded under the guidance of the pontiffs of Sringeri.
Once upon a time, the great philosopher Adi Sankara established a mutt at Sringeri located on the banks of holy river Tunga and consecrated Goddess Saraswathi in the form of Sharadhambal. Very quickly the cult of Goddess Sharadha and the fame of the Sringeri mutt spread far and wide. Contributions of the Pontiffs of Sringeri in spreading human virtues like love, devotion, dedication, unity, etc. were enormous. As a result of the same, temples for Sharadhambal were constructed all over our the country. Great empires like Vijayanagar were founded under the guidance of the pontiffs of Sringeri.
Coimbatore, a predominantly industrial and textile city, which has gained its pride through various other industries like jewellery, engineering and handlooms, etc. has also been full of highly learned men who are also philanthropists and devotees of Sringeri Mutt. Sharadhambal was a mother for them. Hence, people of Coimbatore were frequently travelling to Sringeri in order to have a darshan of Goddes Sharadhambal.
But for a longing child, merely seeing a mother once in a way was definitely not sufficient and the eminent lawyer K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer of Coimbatore felt the same. With this idea in his mind, about four decades ago, K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer made a request to Sethna, a businessman in Coimbatore to donate his bungalow at Race Course for construction of the Sharadambal temple. Sethna readily agreed, but the then pontiff, His Holiness Abhinava Vidya Theertha Swamigal felt that the place was isolated and it may not be convenient for the devotees to go over to the temple. Therefore this idea did not take shape.
A few years later, K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer and Annur K. Govindaswamy Naidu visited Sringeri. When they met His Holiness Abhinava Vidya Theertha Swamigal, he expressed that it was the right time to build a Sharadhambal temple in Coimbatore. K. Govindaswamy Naidu stated that he did not own land in Coimbatore and offered to build a temple by contributing land in Annur. However the Acharya felt that the temple should be located in Coimbatore. K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer and K.Govindaswamy Naidu agreed with Acharya’s point and returned to their lodging at Sringeri.
Shortly after this incident on the same day, Sulur House S.R. Nanjundiah and his brothers S.R.Subbarayar and S.R. Ramakrishnan came for having a darshan of the Acharya. K.S. Radhakrishna Sastrigal had also accompanied them. When they came to know about the Acharya’s intention, they immediately offered more than one acre of land at a very prominent place in Race Course for building the temple. On hearing this, the Acharya immediately sent word to K V Narayanaswamy Iyer and K. Govindaswamy Naidu. They rushed back to the mutt. Collectively they agreed to construct a temple for Sharadhambal at the land offered by Sulur House S R Nanjundiah.
On returning to Coimbatore, documents were immediately made over by S. R. Nanjundiah and brothers in favour of the mutt. This was to be used for building a Sharadhambal Temple. Plans on the temple structure, deities to be consecrated, etc. were made. Accordingly plans of the temple were drawn by T.S. Ramani Sankar, a renowned architect of Coimbatore.
Foundation stone for the temple was laid and about ten people including K.S. Radhakrishna Sastriar, S.R.Nanjundiah and family members of K. Govindaswamy Naidu were present during the auspicious occasion. Swetharanyam Sthapathi was assigned the work of temple construction.
R.Ramakrishna Naidu, the son-in-law of K.Govindaswamy Naidu, endearingly called Mappillai Naicker, took charge of monitoring and supervising day-to-day progress of the construction work. Four gopurams of four deities of the temple viz., Sharadhambal, Adi Sankara, Bala Ganapathy and Bala Murugan were built by a sthapathi (an expert architect specializing in temple construction according aagamas) from Madurai. Impressed by his proficiency and skill, Acharya assigned him the work of constructing the gopuram of Malahanikeshwara Temple, Sringeri.
The panchaloka idol of Sharadhambal was made in Kumbakonam. K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer and R.Ramakrishna Naidu were personally present there to supervise the casting of the idol. This was contributed by the Sulur family. The marble idol of Adi Sankara came from Sringeri and the idols of Ganapathy and Murugan were made in Coimbatore.
S.R. Nanjundiah and his brothers S.R. Subbarayar, S.R. Ramakrishnan, descendants of S.R. Lakshminarasimhan ( Sons of Sulur House Ramachandra Rao) were fully involved with the temple construction work with great devotion. All the pontiffs of the Sringeri mutt used to stay in the Sulur house and the family would leave the place at the disposal of the pontiffs. They used to stay in the residence of one of the brothers S.R. Subbarayar. The members of the Sulur family used to visit the shrine of Sharadhambal everyday. Meenakshi Lakshminarasimhan used to be found visiting the temple everyday from the very start. The rest of the women from the Sulur House family used to participate with full interest. The pontiffs had recognised the contribution of the Sulur House family at all times. Everyone at Coimbatore are fully aware of the generous contribution and role of the members of Sulur House.
In about a year, temple work was fully completed. K.Govindaswamy Naidu and K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer wanted to get the Kumbabishekam of the temple done by the Acharya as early as possible. But somehow things were getting delayed. It was at this point, both of them met Binny Subba Rao, an ardent devotee of mutt. The duo, K.Govindaswamy Naidu and K.V.Narayanaswamy Iyer, requested him to go to Sringeri and get the approval of the Acharya for the Kumbabishekam. Binny Subba Rao was well-known for his mega Rama Navami Celebrations done by him and his family at Coimbatore. He assumed the role of Anjaneya and went to the Acharya. He came back with the date for the Kumbabishekam. During the waiting period for Kumbabishekam, the four idols were in Dhanyavasam (immersed in grains) at the residence of R.Ramakrishna Naidu.
The waiting was over and the Acharya, along with the junior pontiff, His Holiness Bharathi Theertha Swamigal made the pattina pravesam in Racecourse and stayed in the completely vacated residence of K.G. Balakrishnan, the first son of K. Govindaswamy Naidu. Daily rituals including the Chandramouleeswara Puja were conducted and Coimbatore witnessed heavy rainfall during the period. People of Coimbatore talk even today about the excellent pravachanam rendered by the junior pontiff, Sri Bharathi Theertha Swamigal at the Sringeri mutt during his maiden visit to Coimbatore.
On the day prior to the prathishta, the idols were taken in a procession along with elephants, horses and endless number of devotees to the temple for the consecration. The Acharyas also crossed a part of Racecourse by foot. On the day of Mahakumbabishekam too, there were mild drizzles. However the celebrations were not disturbed.
On next day, Acharya told Mappillai Naicker R. Ramakrishna Naidu that though everything was done to the minutest detail, a ‘madapalli’ (kitchen) for the temple and quarters for the priests had been left out. It was immediately decided that the horse stables would be converted into a Temple kitchen and priest’s quarters was to be located adjacent to the same.
Right from commencement in 1979, all the festivals and rituals were being done following the procedures adopted at Sringeri under the guidance of the senior devotees. Kannammal, W/O Ramakrishna Naidu and D/O Sri K. Govindaswamy Naidu assumed total charge of procuring materials for special pujas, decorations and Chandi homams during Navarathri festivals.
After some years, a second Kumbabishekam was done to Devi Sharadhambal and accompanying deities under the auspices and presence of Bharathi Theertha Swamigal. He mentioned that the construction of a mandapam in the adjacent vacant land will be useful for the people. It was undertaken by Ramakrishna Naidu on a war footing basis with the help of Engineer Money and team in 35 days i.e., before the pontiff could finish the Vijayayatra of Tamilnadu.
Each festival in the temple is conducted in a very creative and artistic way which kindles the interest and enthusiasm in the minds of all. For example, during Aadi Pooram festival, a special alankaram is done. Sharadhambal is decorated with bangles which has been associated with our religion and culture from ancient days. The glass bangles which are considered as a must for ladies are adorned on the goddess and is distributed to lady devotees which are considered as special ‘prasadams’ by them. In the same way, on Nine days in Navarathri, very special alankarams are made to the Goddess- Sakambari, Rajarajeswari, etc.
In the year 2012, His Holiness Bharathi Theertha Swamigal visited Coimbatore during the Vardhanti Mahotsavam. Later, both the Acharyas- His Holiness Bharathi Theertha Swamigal and Vidhu Shekara Bharathi Swamigal (his maiden visit to Coimbatore after assuming Sanyasa) visited Coimbatore in 2017. A grand welcome was accorded. Dharmadhikaris - S.R. Nanjundiah, C.G. Venkataramanan and B. Vijayanand have served the Sharadhambal temple over the last 40 years.
The Sharadhambal temple in race course continues to serve as a beacon light of culture and tradition.