Thiruarimeya Vinnagaram

Thiruarimeya Vinnagaram or Kudamudakoothan Perumal Temple is dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu located in Tirunangur, a village in the outskirts of Sirkaḻi in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Nalayira 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 Kudamudakoothan and his consort Lakshmi as Amirtagadavalli.

It is one among the eleven Divya Desams of Tirunangur Tirupatis and is closely associated with Thirumangai Alvar. The temple is open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m and has four daily rituals at various times of the day. The Thirumangai Alvar Mangalasasana Utsavam celebrated annually during the Tamil month of Thai is the major festival of the temple during which the festival images of the eleven Tirunangur Tirupatis are brought on mount designed like Garuda, called Garuda Vahana, to Tirunangur.

Legend

The legend of all the eleven temples of Tirunangur are closely associated with each other. As per legend, the Hindu god Shiva started dancing in fury at this place after the death of his consort Sati due to the yajna (sacrifice) of Daksha. Each time his lock of hair touched the ground, there were eleven other forms of Shiva who appeared. The celestial deities were worried that if the dance continues, it would result in decimation of entire creations. They prayed to Vishnu for help, who appeared at this place. On seeing Vishnu, Shiva’s anger was reduced and he requested Vishnu to appear in eleven forms like he did. On his request, Vishnu appeared in eleven different forms at Tirunangur. The eleven places where Vishnu appeared are believed to be where the eleven temples in Tirunangur are located. 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.

Temple

The temple has a 3-tier gopuram. It is surrounded by paddy fields and is located in Tirunangur, a small village, 10 km away from Sirkali en route to Thiruvenkadu. The temple tank is located north of the temple. Sage Uthankar is believed to have worshiped the presiding deity of the temple.The central shrine houses the image of Krishna seated with his legs on a pot. Thirumangai Alvar refers this action and calls the deity “Kudamadukoothar”, meaning “Oh, pot dancer”.The vimana of the temple is called Vedamodha Vimanam.The presiding deity is sported in seated posture facing east. The festival deity, Gopala, is a panchaloha image sported with four arms and his consort is Amruthakadavalli.