Sammohana Gopalan, Mohanur temple 

The Sammohana Gopalan temple is found within the Kalyana Prasanna Venkatramana Perumal temple in Mohanur. This temple is very famous for its Sathyanarayana Puja on Thiruvonam Star when people from all over India congregate at the temple and collect “Mattai Thengais” (Unskinned Coconuts) for prayers of education, marriage, going abroad etc. These coconuts are placed in the pooja room and worshipped until the prayers are answered. They are then brought back to the temple, skinned and offered to the God.

The God though now known as Kalyana Prasanna Venkatramana Swamy was originally known as Mohana Srinivasan. Similarly, God Shiva in this Kshetram is known as Achaladeepeswarar. According to the old sthalapuranam, he is referred to as Kumareeswarar. Kumari refers to Mohini. The god is called Mohana Srinivasan because of his nature to attract devotees with his divine beauty. He is seen to be one with Lakshmi as he only carries the Srivatsam on his chest instead of the form of Lakshmi. Because of him, the town came to be called Mohanur. Sammohana Gopala, a Rahasya manifestation of God Krishna on Rasapoornima day was installed here in a seperate shrine in the form of a portrait.

With more and more people benefitting out of the worship of this very unique form, an moorti was consecrated in the year 2013.

The moorti has a peacock feather on his crown on the right side, and a Kondai (hair bun) with a long plait on the left. The ears sport different earrings. There are four arms on each side. The rear arms hold Shanku (Conch) and Chakra (Discus). The Chakra destroys pain, suffering, negativity and evil. The Shanku denotes victory over evil, not losing your cool during troubled times and joy.

The two arms in the middle hold an Ankusham (an elephant goad) and a lotus flower respectively. The Ankusham is used by the Mahout to control an elephant when he loses his senses. Similarly, the god controls the ego and failure of intelligence between the couple to restore harmony in their lives. The Lotus is made up of the flower which denotes the wife and the stem which denotes the husband. The core of the flower represents Dhampadya Dharma which attaches the flower to the stem . The petals are dependents or family members who surround the couple.

The Lower arms hold a sugarcane bow and a Pushpabana (an arrow made of flowers) these are the tools of Kama (the God of Love) and Sammohana Gopala holds them to rekindle romance in the life of the couple. The fourth set of hands hold the flute from which he is said to play the Mohana Ragam, to unite the couple and make them focus on true love instead of materialistic needs.