Makara Nedunkuzhaikathar Perumal Temple

Sthala Purāṇam

Thenthiruperai is home to the Makara Nedunkuzhaikathar Perumal Temple, one of the Nava Tirupati Divya Desams strung along the southern bank of the Thamiraparani river on the Tiruchendur-Tirunelveli route in Thoothukudi district. The presiding deity is Makara Nedunkuzhaikathar, a form of Vishnu, and the Thaayar is Thiruperai Nachiyar. The temple's name is itself the sthala puranam in miniature: it commemorates the Lord's wearing of long, fish-shaped (makara) ear ornaments. According to the legend, when Vishnu spent his time in the company of Bhudevi, the earth-goddess, the sage Durvasa cursed her over a perceived slight. Seeking redemption, Bhudevi descended to the banks of the Thamiraparani and performed penance, worshipping Vishnu. On an auspicious new-moon day at the river she found a pair of fish-shaped earrings (makara kundala); when she offered these to the Lord, he appeared before her, accepted the gift, and restored her to her original beauty. Because of this offering the deity came to be praised as Makara Nedunkuzhaikathar, the wearer of the long makara earrings. Nammalvar sang of this shrine in his Tiruvaymoli, his Mangalasasanam binding it into the sacred geography of the Nava Tirupati and the Divya Prabandham canon. Within the Navagraha framework that overlays these nine temples, Thenthiruperai is the Sukra (Venus) sthalam, where the planet is said to have worshipped the Lord. The temple is also extolled in the puranic Nava Tirupati Mahatmyam and the Thamiraparani Sthala Purana.

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