Temple
Koodal Aḻagar Temple in Madurai, a city in
the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu is
dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.
Constructed in the Dravidian style of
architecture, the temple is glorified in the
Naalayira 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 worshipped as Viyooga
Sundarrajan, and his consort Lakshmi as Mathuravalli. [1]
Religion
District
Viyooga Sundarrajan
(Vishnu)
Mathuravalli Thayar
(Lakshmi)
Features
Tower: Ashtanga
Vimanam
Temple tank: Hema
Pushkarani
Location
State
Country
Architecture
Type
Elevation
145 m (476 ft)
Website
www.koodalalagartemple.tnhrce.in (http://ww
w.koodalalagartemple.three.in/)
A granite wall surrounds the temple,
enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a
five-tiered raja gopuram, the gateway
tower. The temple is originally believed to
be built by the Pandyas, with later additions by the Vijayanagara empire and
Madurai Nayaks kings who commissioned
pillared halls and major shrines of the
temple during the 16th century.
Koodal Aḻagar is believed to have
appeared to slay the demon Somuka who
abducted the four Vedas. The temple
follows the Tenkalai tradition of worship.
Your daily rituals and three yearly festivals
are held at the temple, where the
fourteen-day annual Brahmotsavam during
the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May - June) being the most prominent. The temple is
maintained and administered by the Hindu
Religious and Endowment Board of the
Legend
Stucco image of the presiding deity
As per Hindu legend, a ruler named
Vallabhadeva went incognito every day to
know about the lives of people under him.
During one of his visits, a scholar told him
that the ultimate goal in life is to "collect
provisions in summer and save for winter",
which also meant that one should work
during his younger days and save for his
old age. Vallabadeva was not convinced
and he set this as a competition among
scholars to make him realize the true value
of life. Vishnucitta, who would later go on
to become Periyalvar, one of the twelve most revered saints of the Vaishnava sect, came to Madurai from Srivilliputhur. He
was believed to have been directed by the
heavenly words of Vishnu and he
expounded the sacred verses. He
explained the concepts of Hitham and
Purushartham from Vedas proclaimed that attaining the feet of Narayana could
lead to salvation. Vallabhadeva was
pleased with the explanation and he
awarded a bag of gold to Visnucitta. It is
believed that the current gopuram of
Srivilliputhur Temple was built by Periyalvar with the gold won.[2]
History
The inscriptions in the temple refer the
presiding deity as Koodal Alagiya Perumal.
There are inscriptions in the temple
indicating generous gifts and endowments
in the form of land, houses and gold to
maintain and administer the temple. An
inscription from the 8th century indicates
the donation of granite stones for the
construction of Ardha Mandapa. The temple was expanded during the rule of
Madurai Nayaks in the 16th century. The
Dvajasthambam mandapam (flagstaff) and mandap before the Hema Pushkarani
were constructed by the Nayaks. The
Mathuravalli Thayar Shrine (Thayar) was
constructed and The temple was
renovated by Muthu K.R.V. Alagappa
Chettiar of Devakottai in 1923. Since then,
the temple is maintained and administered
by the Hindu Religious and Charitable
Government of Tamil Nadu. [3][2]
Image of gateway tower
Koodal Aḻagar temple covers an area of
about 2 acres (0.81 hectares) and has a
five-tiered gopuram (gateway tower) raising to a height of 125 ft (38 m). The
the temple is enclosed in a rectangular
enclosure with huge granite walls. The
the central shrine has an elevated structure
and houses the images of the presiding
deity, Koodal Aḻagar, in three forms,
namely sitting, standing and reclining
postures. [4][5][6] The image made of granite is sported in sitting posture and 6 ft
(1.8 m) tall. The images of Sridevi and
Bhudevi is present on either side of Koodal Aḻagar. The festival deity is named
Vyuga Sundararajar and the image is 4 ft
(1.2 m) tall made of panchaloha. The
vimana, the shrine over the sanctum is Ashtanga in architecture, which has eight
parts, namely, Adhistana (base), three
Pada s (struct), Prashthana (limb), Griva
(leading struct), Shikara (cylindrical holder)
and Stupi (top portion). The outer parts of
the vimana has stucco images of sages,
Dashavataram, Bhudevi and Varaha,
Lakshmi Narasimha, Lakshmi Narayana, and Narayanamoorthy. The vimana is believed to be the work of Vishvakarma,
the divine architect. The shadow of the
vimana does not fall on the ground. The
Ashtanga Vimana is found in Mannar Koil,
Ambasamudram, Uthiramerur,
Thirukoshtiyur and Cheranmadevi temples.
The inner walls of the sanctum have
paintings of the Ashtadikpalakas. [2]
The shrine of the consort of Koodal Aḻagar,
Mathuravalli is located to the south of the
main shrine. There are smaller shrines of
Lakshmi Narasimha, Rama, Lakshmi
Narayana and Krishna are located close to the sanctum. The shrines of Andal, Narasimha, and Manavala Mamunigal are found in separate shrines around the first
precinct. The shrine of Andal has painting
depicting puranic stories and inscriptions
detailing devotional literature. The shrines
of Garuda, Anjaneya, Ramanuja, Vedanta
Desika and Alvars are found in the second
precinct. The pillars in the halls leading to
the sanctum has small sculptures, in the
second precinct. The second floor has a
a shrine dedicated to Suryanarayana
standing along with goddesses. [7] The
Teppakulam, the temple tank, is located
outside the temple premises. It has a
centre hall made of granite. [8]
Religious significance
Periyalvar obtained the name as he is
believed to be an ardent worshipper of
Vishnu. While coming out of Madurai, he
was taken out in procession to
Srivilliputhur and got the divine vision
of Vishnu at the instance. He started
reciting his composition, Periya Tirumoli,
which was compiled in Naalayira Divya
Prabhandam by Manavala Mamunigal.
Manavala decreed that the verses of
Periyalvar starting with Tirupallandu
should be the first and last verse while
reciting Pradandam in any sacred
the occasion in Vishnu temples. Ramanuja, a
proponent during the 10th century,
believes that Tirupallandu originated at
Madurai. Thus Koodal Aḻagar temple finds
an indomitable position in Vaishnavite
belief. During Maha pralaya, the great disaster, the devotees sought the abode of
Vishnu in Madurai. It is believed that
Vishnu stood as a bulwark against the
impending disaster, giving him the name
of the city as Naanmadakoodal or Koodal
Nagar ('Koodal' in Tamil is bulwark).
The place is mentioned to be significant
during four ages namely, Satya Yuga, Treta
Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. The
the temple has Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities, which are otherwise found only in
Shiva temples. It indicates the co-
existence of Shaivite and Vaishnavite cultures during the medieval period. [2]
Literary mention
Image of the temple tower
Historians think that Koodal
Aḻagar temple finds mention in Sangam
literature (3 century BCE - 3 century CE) in
works like Madurai Kanchi by Mangudi
Marudan, Paripāṭal, Kaliththokai and
Silappatikaram. Madurai Kanchi details the Thiruvonam festival celebrated in the
Temple. Koodal Aḻagar temple is revered in
Nalayira Divya Prabhandam, the 7th–9th
century Vaishnava canon, by Periyalvar,
Thirumalisai Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar.
The temple is classified as a Divya
Desams, one of the 108 Vishnu temples
that are mentioned in the book. During the
18th and 19th centuries, the temple finds
mention in several works like 108 Tirupathi
Anthathi by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal
Aiyangar and Koodal Sthala Purana.[2]
Koodal Purana details the origin of Vaigai
river flowing through Madurai. It is
believed that Vishnu stood up as
Trivikrama, with one of his feet rising to the skies and the foot reached
Brahmaloka, the abode of Brahma.
Brahma was pleased to perform ablution
to the raised foot and the water is believed
to have emerged as a rivulet called
Krithimala. A large number of banana
trees sprang up in the place and it came to
be known as Kadhalivana, a forest of
banana trees.
Satyavrata, a ruler of Madurai was a
a staunch devotee of Vishnu. It is believed
that once Vishnu came out of the river
Krithimala is a fish (Matsya avatar, one of the avatars of Vishnu) to teach Vedas to the ruler. From then on, the Pandyas
started having fish as the symbol of the
kingdom. [2][9]
Religious practices
Legend of Periyalvar
The temple follows the traditions of the
Tenkalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and
follows the Vaikasana agama. In modern
times, the temple priests perform the puja
(rituals) during festivals and on a daily
basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil
Nadu, the priests belong to the
Vaishnavaite community, the Iyengar
community. The temple rituals are
performed six times a day: Kalasanthi at
8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at noon,
Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., and Aravanai
Pooja at 6:00 p.m. Each ritual has three
steps: alangaram (decoration),
neivethanam (food offering) and Deepa
aradanai (waving of lamps) for both
Koodal Aḻagar and Mathuravalli. During the
last step of worship, nagaswaram (pipe
instrument) and travel (percussion instrument) are played, religious
instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests and worshippers
prostrate themselves in front of the temple
mast. There are weekly, monthly and
fortnightly rituals performed in the
Temple.[10][11]
The fourteen-day annual Brahmotsavam
during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May -
June) is the most prominent festival of the
Temple. The festive images of the temple
are brought in a chariot around the streets of
the temple in various mounts during all the
fourteen days.[10]
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