Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar temple

Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Tirunelveli
Deity	Vaishnava Nambi (Vishnu) Neela Devi (Lakshmi)
Location
Location	Thirukkurungudi
State	Tamil Nadu
Country	India
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	8°26′09″N 77°33′58″E / 8.43583°N 77.56611°E / 8.43583; 77.56611
Architecture
Type	Dravidian architecture

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 Naalayira 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 Vaishnava Nambi and his consort Lakshmi as Thirukurungudivalli.^[1] 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 (34 m) tall. Vaishnava Nambi is believed to have appeared to slay the asura Somuka who abducted the four Vedas. The temple follows Tenkalai 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 (April - May) and Brahmotsavam during the month of Chittirai, being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.