Azhagia Manavalar Temple

Overview : Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple located in Woraiyur, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India is dedicated to God Manavalan Perumal (God Vishnu). This temple is also one among the 108 Divya Desam (important shrine) of God Vishnu. God Manavalan Perumal gives darshan to his devotee along with his consort Kamalavalli Thayar (Goddess Lakshmi). The temple is built in the Dravidian style of architecture and the temple is also said to be glorified in the alwar canon Divya Prabandha. About the temple : The Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple is believed to have been built by the Cholas in the 8th century AD. Also kings from the other South Indian dynasty contributed to the temple's construction at various time period. The Temple has a 5-tiered gateway tower (Rajagopuram) designed with the images of various Hindu deities. The Temple is surrounded and protected by granite wall on all four sides of the temple. The main shrine has the idol of God Azhagiya perumal who gives darshan to devotees in a sitting posture. The temple also has a shrine dedicated to Nammalvar. The Temple walls are designed with the images of God Matsya, Narasimha and also stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. This is also the only divya desam temple where Nachiyar has a shrine that faces the north. The temple has separate shrines for Ramanuja and Nammazhwar - who was one of the 12 azhwars and the author of Tiruvaimozhi. The vimana is called Kamala Vimanam. This is the Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple. About the deity : Azhagiya Manavalan is believed to have appeared to Kamalavalli, the daughter of Chola king Nanda Cholan, in this place to marry her. The idol is in the standing position, facing the North with the "Prayoga Chakkaram". Legend : According to the legends, once there was a discussion among the great sages and rishis of India as to who was the greatest among the three main deities of Hinduism, God Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. The Discussion went on for long time but the sages and rishis were not able to come to conclusion. They all thought of an idea to approach Bhrigu Maharishi and seek his help to determine who among the three were the greatest. They all went to Bhrigu Maharishi's place and informed him about the discussion and requested his help. Bhrigu Maharishi agreed to help them, first he went to Kailash the abode of God Shiva, while entering he was stopped by the Dwara Balakaas who informed him that the God's were alone and doesn’t want to be disturbed. Bhrigu Maharishi thought that since God Shiva was not always reachable to his devotees he was not the right person. He then proceeded to Brahma loka and requested entrance, but he was again denied entry and he thought God Brahma was also not the right person and went to Vaikuntam the abode of God Vishnu, who received Bhrigu Maharishi with a grand welcome, the Maharishi was surprised to add to this surprise God Vishnu did a patha puja to the Great Rishi, Goddess Lakshmi seeing this got angry and shouted at God Vishnu as to why he was doing patha puja to a Rishi. This irritated the rishi who got angry and cursed Goddess Lakshmi to take birth as a human. Soon after the Rishi left Goddess Lakshmi who by now understood her mistake requested God Vishnu to help, but the God informed her that all the actions are happening according to their fates only and added that he will follow her soon towards the earth. At the same time in earth, a king by name Dharma Varman lived in Kumbakonam, Chozhanaadu. Once when he was hunting in the forest her saw some rishis being disturbed by the local demons, the rishis upon seeing the king requested his help to stop the nuisance caused by the demon. The king promised them he will stay in the forest till the demons are all killed. The just king stayed in the forest and killed the demon, the rishis thanked the king and asked him to ask a boon. The king who was content with his life had only one issue he was childless and requested the rishis to bless him with a child. The rishis' told the king that they will do yagna but the king must also pray to Goddess Lakshmi, who will be born as the king's daughter, as directed by the rishis' the king did the penance and was blessed with a girl child who he named "Varalakshmi" as she was the avatar of Goddess Lakshmi herself. Soon the child reached the age to get married and Dharma Varman announced a Swayamvar to find a suitable match for his daughter, God Vishnu also participated in the marriage as Ranganathar from Srirangam, upon seeing God Vishnu, the girl directly went to him and placed the garland on his neck. All the persons saw this wedding of Sri Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi and the king raised a temple for Sri Ranganathar in Kalyana Thirukkolam. Significance : The temple does not have a utsavar idol because God Vishnu came in the form of Sri ranganathar who resides in Srirangam, the temple's utsavar is the same as the Srirangam ranganathar utsavar. On the first day of Panguni Uthiram, Sri Ranganathar comes from Sri Rangam and stays in Urayoor and on Panguni Uthiram, he marries Kamalvalli Naachiyar. How to get there or Accessibility : Air: The Trichy airport is about 7 km from the city. Rail: Tiruchirappalli is an important Railway junction of the Southern Railways. It connects many important cities and towns of South India such as Chennai, Thanjavur, Madurai and Chidambaram. Road: Tiruchirappalli is well connected by road to Madurai, Chennai, Pondicherry and Thanjavur or Tanjore.