page_title: Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar temple
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar temple / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar temple tower at Thirukurungudi.
context_page_description: Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar Temple in Thirukkurungudi, a village in Tirunelveli district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It is located 45 km from Tirunelveli. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Vaishnava Nambi and his consort Lakshmi as Thirukurungudivalli. The temple is locally referred as Dakshina Vaikuntam, the holy abode of Vishnu.
  A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and two of its three bodies of water. The rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, is 110 ft tall. Vaishnava Nambi is believed to have appeared to slay the demon Somuka who abducted the four Vedas. The temple follows Thenkalai tradition of worship. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the ten-day annual Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of Chittirai and Brahmotsavam during the month of Chittirai, being the most prominent.
context_section_description: The temple has inscriptions from the 10th century during the Medieval Chola period indicating grants to the temple in the form of sheep. Another inscription from the 14th century is attributed to Sundara Pandya II indicating gifts of 25 cows for the perpetual lighting of ghee lamps in the temple. There are also inscriptions from the same regime indicating gift of lands to the temple. The Nayak period during the 15th century saw lot of additions to the temple complex in terms of pillared halls. The inscriptions on the southern wall of the hall dated 1059 indicates excavation of a channel with dams. There are similar inscriptions on the northern wall indicating repairs made to the same dam. There are two unreadable inscriptions on two pillars of the temple. There are three copper plate inscriptions in the temple dated 1456, 1537 and 1592 indicating grants from Sabala Veera Chandra Ramavarma Maharaja, Vittala Raya of Vijayanagar Empire and Vira Vasantha Venkatadeva Maharaja respectively indicating several grants to the temple.
caption: Temple tower
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