KOODALAZHAGAR PERUMAL TEMPLE-
MADURAI-TAMILNADU
Introduction
Koodal Aḻagar Temple in Madurai, a city in the South Indian state of Tamil
Nadu, is a templededicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the
Dravidian style ofarchitecture, the temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya
Prabandham, the early medievalTamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th
centuries CE. It is one among the 108 Divya Desamsdedicated to Vishnu, who is
worshipped as Viyooga Sundarrajan, and his consortLakshmi as Mathuravalli.
Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Koodal Azhagar Temple/ KoodalAzhagar Koil is situated
in the heart of Madurai city. In Tamil language,Koodal stands for Madurai while
Azhagar means ‘beautiful one’. This ancienttemple of Madurai is located quite
close to Meenakshi Amman Temple.
There are mentions of Koodal Alagar in Brahmanda Purana inits seven chapters.
It is also said that the great King Prithu, Malaydioaja hadworshipped Sri
Koodal Alagar. As a result of which, Lord blessed them withopulence along with
attainment of moksha.
Legends
Koodal Aḻagar is believed to have appeared to slay thedemon Somuka who abducted
the four Vedas.
As per another Hindu legend, a ruler named Vallabhadeva wentincognito every day
to know about the lives of people under him. During one ofhis visits, a scholar
told him that the ultimate goal in life is to"collect provisions in summer and
save for winter", which also meantthat one should work during his younger days
and save for his old age.
Vallabadeva was not convinced and he set this as acompetition among scholars to
make him realize the true value of life.
Vishnucitta, who would later go on to becomePeriyalvar, one of the twelve most
revered saints of Vaishnava sect, came toMadurai from Srivilliputhur. He was
believed to have been directed by theheavenly words of Vishnu and he expounded
the sacred verses. He explained the concepts of Hithamand Purushartham from
Vedas and proclaimed that attained the feet of Narayanacould lead to salvation.
Vallabhadeva was pleased with the explanation and he awardeda bag of gold to
Visnucitta. It is believed that the current gopuram ofSrivilliputhur Temple,
was built by Periyalvar with the gold won.
History
The inscriptions in the temple refer the presiding deity asKoodal Alagiya
Perumal. There are inscriptions in the temple indicatinggenerous gifts and
endowments in the form of land, houses and gold to maintain and administerthe
temple. An inscription from the 8th century indicates the donation of granite
stones for theconstruction of Ardha Mandapa. The temple was expanded during
therule of Madurai Nayaks in the 16th century. The Dvajasthambam mandapam
(flagstaff) and mandapam 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. AlagappaChettiar of Devakottai in 1923. Since
then, the temple is maintainedand administered by the Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowments Department ofthe Government of Tamil Nadu
Architecture
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 (38m). The
temple is enclosed in a rectangular enclosure with huge granite walls.
The above granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing allits shrines. The
temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the gateway tower. Thetemple is
originally believed to be built by the Pandyas, with later additions by the
Vijayanagaraempire and Madurai Nayaks kings who commissioned pillared halls
andmajor shrines of the temple during the 16th century.
The vimana, the shrine over the sanctum is Ashtanga inarchitecture, which has
eight parts, namely, Adhistana (base), three Padas(struct), Prashthana (limb),
Griva (leading struct), Shikara (cylindricalholder) and Stupi (top portion).
The outer parts of the vimana has stucco images of sages. Thevimana is believed
to be the work of Vishvakarma, the divine architect. The shadow of the vimana
doesnot fall on the ground.
Deities
The central shrine has an elevated structure and houses theimages of the
presiding deity,Koodal Aḻagar, in three forms, namely sitting, standing and
reclining postures.The image made of granite is sported in sitting posture and
6 ft (1.8 m) tall. The images of Sridevi and Bhudeviare present in either sides
of Koodal Aḻagar.
The festival deity is named Vyuga Sundararajar and theimage is 4 ft (1.2 m)
tall made of panchaloha.
Sub deities
Dashavataram, Bhudevi and Varaha, Lakshmi Narasimha, LakshmiNarayana, and
Narayanamoorthy.
The shrine of the consort of Koodal Aḻagar, Mathuravalli, islocated to the
south of the main shrine. There are smaller shrines of LakshmiNarasimha, Rama,
Lakshmi Narayana, and Krishna located close to the sanctum.The shrines of
Andal, Narasimha, and Manavala Mamunigal are found in separateshrines around
the first precinct.
The shrine of Andal has painting depicting puranic storiesand 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 have smallsculptures, in the
second precinct. The second floor has a shrine dedicated toSuryanarayana
standing along with goddesses.
Religious practices
The temple follows the traditions of the Tenkalai sect of Vaishnavitetradition
and follows the Vaikasana aagama. In modern times, thetemple priests perform
the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a dailybasis. As at other Vishnu
temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaitecommunity, the
Iyengar community.
Poojas
The temple follows the Tenkalai tradition of worship. Fourdaily rituals are
conducted. The templerituals are performed six times a day: Kalasanthi at 8:00
a.m., Uchikalam at12:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., and Aravanai Pooja at
6:00 p.m. Eachritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food
offering) anddeepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Koodal Aḻagar and
Mathuravalli.
Festivals
Three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which thefourteen-day annual
Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May - June)being the most
prominent. Thefourteen day annual Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of
Vaikasi (May- June) is the most prominent festival of the temple. The festive
images of thetemple are brought in chariot round the streets of the temple in
various mountsduring all the fourteen days.
Float festival, which is a 10 day long festival celebrated,is one of the best
time to visit. Garuda Seva, Celestial Wedding Festival,Adyayana utsava,
Navarathri festival, Vasantha Utsava, etc. are a few othersmall festivals that
are celebrated here. Koodal Azhagar Temple
Temple Pond
The Teppakulam, thetemple tank, is located outside the temple premises. It has
a centre hall madeof granite.
Religious significance
Periyalvar obtained thename as he is believed to be an ardent worshipper of
Vishnu. While coming out of Madurai, he was takenout in procession to
Srivilliputhur and he got the divine vision of Vishnu atthe instance. He
started reciting his composition, Periya Tirumoli, which wascompiled in
Naalayira Divya Prabhandam by Manavala Mamunigal. Manavala decreedthat the
verses of Periyalvar starting with Tirupallantu should be the firstand last
verse while reciting Prabhandam in any sacred occasion in Vishnutemples.
Ramanuja, a proponentduring the 10th century,believes that Tirupallandu
originated at Madurai. Thus Koodal Aḻagar templefinds an indomitable position
in Vaishnavite belief.
During Mahapralaya,the great disaster, the devotees sought the abode of Vishnu
in Madurai. It is believed that Vishnu stood asa bulwark against the impending
disaster, giving him the name of the city asNaanmadakoodal or Koodal Nagar
('Koodal' in Tamil is bulwark).
The place is mentioned tobe significant during four ages namely, Satya Yuga,
Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga andKali Yuga.
The temple has Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities,which are otherwise found
onlyin Shiva temples.It indicates Vaishnavitecultures during the medieval period
Literary mention
Historians are of the opinion that Koodal Aḻagar temple findsmention in Sangam
literature (3 century BCE - 3 century CE) in works like Silappatikaram.Madurai
Kanchi details the Thiruvonam festival celebrated in the temple. Koodal
Aḻagartemple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabhandam, the 5th–9th century
Vaishnavacanon, by Periyalvar, Thirumalisai Alvar and Thirumangai Alvar.
Koodal Purana details theorigin of Vaigai river flowing through Madurai. It is
believed that Vishnu stood up as Trivikrama,with one of his foot rising to the
skies and the foot reached Brahmaloka, theabode of Brahma. Brahma was pleased
to perform ablution to the raised foot andthe water is believed to have emerged
as a rivulet called Krithimala. A large number of bananatrees sprang up in the
place and it came to be known as Kadhalivana, a forestof banana trees.
Satyavrata, a ruler of Madurai was a staunch devotee ofVishnu. It is believed
thatonce Vishnu came out of the river Krithimala as a fish (Matsya avatar, one
ofthe avatars of Vishnu) to teach Vedas to the ruler.
>From then on, the Pandyas started having fish as thesymbol of the kingdom.
Kumbhabhishekham
The kumbabishegam of the temple was held on 20th January 2024
Temple timings
5:30 am – 12:00 pm,04:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Administration
The temple is maintained and administered by the HinduReligious and Endowment
Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Address:
Koodal Alagar PerumalKoil Street, Pallivasal Ln, Near Periyar Bus Stand, ,
Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625001
Phone: 0452 233 8542
How to Reach
Madurai Bus Stand, about 1 km away.
Madurai Airport, about 14 km away.
Madurai Junction Railway Station, about 1 km away.
Compiled and posted by R.Gopalakrishnan on 31-10-2025
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/2125765256.1742608.1761907341644%40mail.yahoo.com.
