Sowmya Narayana Perumal temple

Sowmyanarayana Perumal Temple
Image of the temple gopuram
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Sivaganga district
Deity	Sowmyanarayana Perumal (Vishnu) Thirumaamagal Thayar (Lakshmi)
Features	Tower: Ashtanga Vimanam
Location
Location	Thirukoshtiyur
State	Tamil Nadu
Country	India
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	10°03′39″N 78°33′36″E / 10.06083°N 78.56000°E / 10.06083; 78.56000
Architecture
Type	Dravidian architecture

Sowmyanarayana Perumal Temple is an ancient temple located in Thirukoshtiyur, a village in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. 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 Sowmyanarayana Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Thirumamagal.^[1] The temple is known as the place where Ramanuja, the expounder of Vishishtadvaita philosophy preached the holy ashtakshara "Om Namo Narayanaya" to all people, irrespective of their varna.

A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple features a five-tiered rajagopuram or, the gateway tower and an impressive Ashtanga Vimana, which is even taller than the gopuram itself.The temple tank is located opposite to the temple, outside the main entrance.

Sowmyanarayana Perumal is believed to have appeared as Narasimha avatar to the devas, the celestial deities. The temple follows Tenkalai tradition of worship. Six daily rituals and many yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the float festival during the Tamil month of Masi (February–March), Navrathri during September–October and Vaikunta Ekadasi during Margali (December–January) being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by Sivaganga Devasthanam.