Then began marching for the temples for Sri Rama, Krishna and Venkateswara. Here their profusion in number ended in
confusion and hurled me at once into a .big maze that I could not come back unless the divine light illumined me. Almost all
states lying on both sides - South and North of the Vindhyas, possessing are thousands of them, some still exercising their
full sway, though built in the far off dim past, say thousands of years back. As renovations are being carried on from time to
time, a few are existing only for name sake, and conducting the regular worship on a scale trivial; and so the significance
partly obscured. And shocking it is to observe that some of them are in abject ruins, whose eminence had brought and made
the emperors prostrate after emptying their vaults for their beautification and glorification. Some of them are included in the
list with heavy heart.
And lastly, it is well - known that no Vaishnavate temple book is deemed complete and sacrosanct without the mention or
inclusion of atleast one or two of the most famous Divya Thirupathis or Desams, numbering exactly 108. Strangely enough,
nearly seventy five percent of them are in Tamil Nadu. They are good old ones with fantastic legends and awe-some
miracles occurred therein, together with rich historic evidence; but literature pertaining each of them is deplorably lacking in
only a few fragments in Tamil are available and helpful for elaboration in a way. Fortunately, the basic, vital details with
plates are available in some places and they are given adequate space within the scope of this book, covering 400 temples.
For full and detailed information; the titles of some books marketed, in big book shops and their list is given in the
bibliography for the benefit of the readers.
|
