Nangur Vishnu Temples

Thirumangai Alvar
Thirumangai Alvar (left) with his wife Kumudavalli (Thirunangur Tirupathis closely associated with the poet)

The Vishnu temples at Nangur are a group of 11 temples near Nangur in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, India. The eleven temples are part of the 108 Divya Desams of the Hindu god Vishnu. The temples at Nangur are believed to have been sanctified by Tirumangai Alvar, one of the 12 Azhwars.^[1] The oldest of them have been dated to the reign of the Medieval Chola king Parantaka I.

Festival

The Thirumangai Alvar Mangalasasana utsavam (festival)^[2] in the month of Thai (Jan-Feb) on the New Moon day (Amavasai) witnesses 11 Garuda sevai a spectacular event in which festival images idols from the 11 Thirunaangur Divyadesam shrines in the area are brought on Garuda mounts to Thirunangur. An idol of Thirumangai Alvar is also brought here on a Hamsa Vahanam (palaquin) and his paasurams (verses) dedicated to each of these 11 temples are recited. The Utsavar (festival deity) of Thirumangai Alvar and his consort Sri Kumudavalli Naachiyar are taken in a palanquin to each of the 11 temples, through the paddy fields in the area. The paasurams (poems) dedicated to each of the 11 Divyadesams are chanted in the respective shrines. This is the most important of the festivals in this area, and it draws thousands of visitors.

Thirunangur Tirupathis

Name of the temple	Deity	Photo	Notes/Beliefs
Thirukkavalampadi	Gopalakrishna Perumal		Kavalam indicates elephant and padi indicates place - it is believed that Krishna saved an elephant at this place leading to the name of the temple.
Thiruvanpurushothamam	Purushotama Perumal
Thiruarimeya Vinnagaram	Kudamudakoothan Perumal		Arimeya Vinnagaram literally translates to the place where Hari (another name of Vishnu) resides. It is believed that sage Uthanga performed his penance at this place. There is another local legend that Govardana (Vishnu) descended here at the request of Shiva.
Thiruchsemponsey	Perarulaalan Perumal		Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu came to this place after killing Ravana. He made a golden idol of a cow and gifted to a Brahmin from the ashram of sage Dranethra, from where the place obtained its name.
Thirumanimadam	Badari Narayana Perumal		The eleven Rudras, called Ekadas Rudras and king of devas, Indra, are believed to have worshiped Vishnu at this temple.[3] The presiding deity of Badrinath Temple, Badrinath, is believed to have visited the place on the request of Shiva. Ramanuja is believed to have learnt Tirumandiram from Thirukoshtiyur Nambi at this place.[4]
Thiruvaikunda vinnagaram	Vaikunta Nathan Perumal
Thiruthevanartthogai	Madhava Perumal Temple
Thiruthetriyambalam	Palli Konda Perumal		It is believed that the presiding deity of Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple arrived here on the request of Shiva. It is referred as Ambalam, which in Malayalam means temple.
Thirumanikkoodam	Varadaraja Perumal
Thiruvellakkulam or Annan Koil	Annan Perumal Temple
Thiruppaarththanpalli			Krishna appeared to Arjuna, a Pandava prince as Parthasarathy and initiated his knowledge to understand who he actually was. Since Parthasarathy initiated education here for Arjuna, the place is called Parthanpalli. (Parthan + Palli, meaning school

References

1. "Gazetteers of Tamil Nadu", p. 426, by B. S. Baliga
2. "Garuda Sevai" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-08-19.
3. Ayyar, P. V. Jagadisa (1982). South Indian Shrines: Illustrated. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 242, 535. ISBN 9788120601512.
4. R., Dr. Vijayalakshmy (2001). An introduction to religion and Philosophy - Tévarám and Tivviyappirapantam (1st ed.). Chennai: International Institute of Tamil Studies. p. 534-535.