Uthamar Temple - Bikshandar Kovil

Also known as Thirukkarambanoor and Bhikshandar Kovil, Uthamar Kovil is a village located in the outskirts of Trichy city. Constructed in the Dravidian style, the temple finds its place in the Divyaprabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alwar saints. It is one of the 108 Divya Desam (most sacred) temples dedicated to Vishnu. The main deity here is worshipped as Purushothaman and his consort Lakshmi as Poornavalli. This is a very unique temple where all the three major Gods of Hinduism like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are present with their consorts altogether. Once, when King Janaka was on a pilgrimage tour, he came here and conducted a pooja. When everyone was praying with closed eyes, a dog spoiled the sanctity of the pooja items. Since it was not a good sign, a worried Janaka prayed to the lord.

He was directed by a sage coming that way to pray to the Kadamba tree there. On doing so, King Janaka was asked to do another pooja with new yagna items which were completed successfully. Janaka was very happy and wanted to know about the sage who guided him. The sage smiled and asked to worship the Kadamba tree again. In doing so, the Kadamba tree which was nothing but the form of Vedas. Another story explains that lord Brahma had a grief that he did not have a temple for himself though he too held a position as high as Vishnu and Shiva. For this sake, when lord Brahma was worshipping lord Vishnu, to check his devotion, lord Vishnu stood here as a Kadamba tree. Brahma personified Vishnu in the tree form and performed pujas to the tree. Brahma was granted this place to stay. The temple is very simple and does not have huge gopurams. The temple is more inclined spiritually.