Shri Naimishnath Vishnu Temple, Hindu temple in Sitapur district, India
Shri Naimishnath Vishnu Temple is a Hindu temple in Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, with three separate shrines dedicated to Vishnu, Lakshmi, and Ramanujacharya. The complex combines South Indian and North Indian design elements in its structures and includes a circular water tank used by worshippers for ritual purification.
Naimisharanya is identified with the ancient Naimisha forest, where the sages led by Shaunaka met and Suta recited the eighteen Puranas and the Mahabharata. The temple is counted among the eight Swayamvyakta Kshetra, self-manifested Vishnu shrines, and is revered in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Thirumangai Alvar in ten hymns. It is one of the five major Vaishnavite temples in Uttar Pradesh.
The name Naimisharanya comes from the Sanskrit naimisha, a blink of the eye, because the forest is where the demons were slain in an instant, as the Varaha Purana tells. The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams praised by the Alvar saint Thirumangai Alvar in ten hymns. On new moon days, pilgrims bathe in the sacred well; if it falls on a Monday, they also make offerings to the nearby goddess Lalita.
The temple stands at the junction of the roads from Sitapur and Khairabad, 32 km from Sitapur and 42 km from Sandila railway station, about 45 miles north of Lucknow. It sits on the left bank of the Gomati, and the Chakra Tirtha and Chankra Kunda teerths are used for ritual bathing. Ahobila Matt's Nava Narasimha Swamy and Hanuman Garhi temples are nearby.
The water in Chakra Tirth flows in a circular pattern from an underground source, mentioned in several Vedic scriptures as a sacred spot. The name of this pool refers to the divine weapon of Vishnu, which according to legend left this shape in the ground.
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