Naimisaranyam or Devaraja Perumal Temple

Naimisaranyam is a hindu temple located in the state of uttar pradesh. Naimisaranyam is also known as Nimsar or Nimkhar and is located on the left bank of the river Gomati.This temple is dedicated to lord vishnu. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars.

Naimisaranyam Temple is said to be one of the 8 swayam Vyaktha kshetrams. The other swayam Vyaktha kshetram are Sri Rangam, Srimushnam, Salagramam, Thotadri (Vaanamamalai), Tirupathi, Pushkaram and Badri. This Naimisaranya Temple is said to be regarded as 'Tapovanam'.

It is believed that  the Goddesses is found in the form of forest. And this Naimisaranyam is regarded as a holy forest.The Lord is known as Devaraja perumal or Sri Hari and the Goddesses is called Sri Hari Lakshmi thayar. 

Legend :

The Lord of Naimisaranyam sthalam is giving his seva as the entire form of the Vanam (forest). In the old age, all the Maha Rishis along with Sownakar went towards Brahma and asked him which is the best place suited for doing Yagam and tapas. As the answer, Brahma took a dharbai grass and made it as a wheel shape and rolled the dharbai grass. Brahma said after he rolls the grass, the place where it stops is said to be the ideal place for doing tapas and yagam. He rolled the wheel and it stops at a particular place in the Earth and that place is said to the place which is called as 'Naimisaranyam'. Nemi means a Wheel and Naimisam means the place where the wheel landed. Aaranyam means forest. Since Nemi, the Chakkaram which landed on Aaranya the forest, the sthalam is called as 'Naimisaranyam'.

Sage Narada is believed to have searched for the best theertha (water body) in three worlds. He went to Kailasa, the abode of Shiva, then to Parkadal, the abode of Vishnu and finally landed in the water body in the Naimisha Forest. The central deity is also believed to be worshipped by sudharma and devas (celestical deities).

Indra, the king of the devas, was once driven out of devaloka by an asura named Vritra. The asura was the recipient of a boon whereby he could not be killed by any weapon that was known till the date of his receiving the boon and additionally that no weapon made of wood or metal could harm him. Indra, who lost all hope of recovering his kingdom went to seek the aid of Vishnu. Vishnu revealed to Indra that only the weapon made from the bones of the sage Dadhichi would defeat Vritra. Indra and the other devas therefore approached the sage, whom Indra had once beheaded, and asked him for his aid in defeating Vritra. Dadhichi acceded to the devas' request but said that he wished that he had time to go on a pilgrimage to all the holy rivers before he gave up his life for them. Indra then brought together all the waters of the holy rivers to Naimisaranya, thereby allowing the sage to have his wish fulfilled without a further loss of time. Dadhichi is then said to have given up his life by the art of yoga after which the devas fashioned the Vajrayudha from his spine. This weapon was then used to defeat the asura, allowing Indra to reclaim his place as the king of devaloka.

The Pushkarani of this sthalam are Gomukhi Nadhi and Chakkara theertham. On the shore of Chakkara theertham, separate sannadhis for Chakarathalwar, Sri Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha Piratti is found. On the way to Gomukhi Nadhi, a separate temple called as “Vyasa Ghat” is found. On the other side of this sthalam, a temple for Suka maharishi is found, where Suka Bhagavan is found as the bronze statue.

Near to this Suka Maharishi temple, a temple for Hanuman is found on the top of the mountains which is known as the “Hanuman Ghat”. He is found in standing position holding Sri Rama and Lakshmana in his two shoulders, in Vishwaroopa Kolam.

This place is also visited by sankaracharya.The central deity is believed to have presided over the forest and hence the puja (rituals) are done to the forest.

On every New moon day large number of devotees visit this temple.

Temple Timings : 09:00 AM to 01:00 PM and 04:00 PM to 08:00 PM.

How To Get Here :

Naimisaranyam is located at the junction of the roads from Sitapur and Khairabad, 32 km from Sitapur and 42 km from the Sandila railway station, 45 miles north of Lucknow in Uttarpradesh.