page_title: Aravindalochanar temple
section_title: Religious significance
hierarchical_section_title: Aravindalochanar temple / Religious significance
caption_attribution_description: English: Aravinda Lochanar temple
context_page_description: Aravindalochanar Perumal Temple in Tholavillimangalam, a village in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It is located 22 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 Aravindalochanar and his consort Lakshmi as Karunthadankanni. The temple is also classified as a Navatirupathi, the nine temples revered by Nammazhwar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. Along with the Devapiran temple located 100 yards away, the temple is referred as Irattai Tirupathy. This temple is a Rahu Sthalam.
  A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing the main shrine and pillared halls. Unlike other South Indian temples, the temple does not have a rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower and has a flat gateway. The Vijayanagar and Nayak kings commissioned pillared halls and major shrines of the temple during the 16th century.
  The temple follows Thenkalai tradition of worship.
context_section_description: Brahmanda Purana one of the eighteen sacred texts of Hinduism and written by Veda Vyasa contains a chapter called Navathirupathi Mahatmeeyam that describes all the nine temples of Navatirupathi. Aravindalochanar temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Nammazhwar. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. The temple is also classified as a Navatirupathi, the nine temples revered by Nammazhwar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. Nammazhwar makes a reference about the temple in his works in Thirvaimozhi. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple finds mention in several works like 108 Tirupathi Anthathi by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar. The temple also forms a series of Navagraha temples where each of the nine planetary deities is associated with one of the temples of Navatirupathi. The temple is associated with Rahu, a snake planet. Along with the Devapiran temple located 100 yards away, the temple is referred as Irattai Tirupathy (meaning twin Tirupathis).
caption: Image of the main entrance from the street
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