Alagar Koyil is a village in Madurai district
in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The history and living of the village is
centered around Kallalagar Temple.
Constructed in the Dravidian style of
architecture, the temple is glorified in the
Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the early
medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints
from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of
the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu,
who is worshiped as Kallalagar and his
consort Lakshmi as Thirumamagal. [1]
village
Country
Elevation
266 m (873 ft)
Languages
• Official
Kallalagar Temple
One of the broken gateway towers of the temple
Kallalagar Temple covers an area of about 2 acres (0.81 hectares) and has a five-tiered gopuram (gateway tower). The temple is enclosed in a rectangular
enclosure with huge granite walls. The
central shrine houses the image of the
presiding deity, Sundarabahu Perumal in
standing posture. The images of Sridevi
and Bhudevi are also housed in the sanctum. There are two life size images of
Narasimha, the avatar of Vishnu. One of
them is shown holding the demon Hiranya
and other slaying him.[2]
The temple houses some rare
Vijayanagara sculptures similar to the
ones present in Soundararajaperumal
Temple, Thadikombu, Krishnapuram
Venkatachalapathy temple, Srivilliputhur
Divya Desam and Jalakandeswarar
Temple, Vellore. The temple also has one
of the unique deities Chakaratalvar (Alvar) where the god with chakram having 16
hands and 16 weapons is without
Narasimha above him. [3]
Chithirai Festival
Chithirai festival of this temple celebrated
for ten days is one of the declared
festivals of Tamil Nadu government. This
festival day is declared as a local holiday.
In Chithirai (April-May), Lord Kallalagar
starts from Alagar kovil in the form of
Kallar [4] and reaches Madurai on
Pournami (Full Moon day). Here he steps into river Vaigai in his Horse Vaganam.
Lakhs of devotees flock to river Vaigai to
see this event. "Ethir Sevai" festival is
celebrated on the day before Alagar steps into river Vaigai. It is a tradition for the
people of Madurai to welcome Alagar.
As Alagar returns from Vandiyur
Dhasavatharam, festival is celebrated
throughout the night at Ramarayar
Mandapam in the Northern part of river
Vaigai. After this event, Alagar is taken to
Mysore Veera Mandapam on decorated
Anantharayar Palanquin. The next morning
Alagar in the form of Kallar returns to
Alagar kovil in ‘Poo Pallakku' (Palanquin
decorated with flowers)
In the month of April and May, each year the great Chitra festival is celebrated on
Pournami (full moon day). The Festival
dramatically re enacts the visitation of
Kallalagar to Madurai from Alagar Koyil.
Lakhs of devotees flock to river Vaigai to
personally witness the event of lord Alagar
stepping down into the river and to get his
blessings.
During the months of July and August the
festival of Aadi Brahmmorchavam is being
celebrated for 10 days. This festival
occurs within the precincts of the shrine.
Devotees from different parts of
Tamilnadu throng to participate in this
festival. The temple car ‘Amaiththa
Narayanan’ is taken in procession during
Pournami (Full-Moon day) of Aadi
(Brahmotchavam).
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