Kuda Maadu Koothan Perumal Temple, Thiruarimeya Vinnagaram
Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram
One of the eleven Nangur Divya Desams.
Sthala Purāṇam
Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram is one of the eleven Thirunangur Divya Desams near Sirkazhi, all sung by Thirumangai Alvar. The name derives from Ari (Hari), one who destroys sins, with Vinnagaram meaning the heavenly abode of Maha Vishnu; the Lord here is said to make devotees' sins vanish. The presiding deity earned the name Kuda Maadu Koothan from performing the Kuda Koothu, a dance in which the performer stands still and radiates expression like a lamp held within a pot, and through this dance the Lord revealed his Aadi Moola Narayana Thathuvam, the fundamental principle of all creation; he is also revered as Vedanarayanan. The central legend concerns sage Uthanga Maharishi, whose wife Prabhai was carried away by a crocodile while she bathed in the Ganges. Wandering in grief, the sage reached this kshetram, where Kuda Maadu Koothan granted darshan and consoled him by revealing that his wife had attained moksha, thereby relieving his sorrow. Like the other Thirunangur shrines, this temple is connected to the legend of Lord Shiva's anguished dance following the death of his consort at Daksha's yajna, when Vishnu appeared in eleven forms across Thirunangur to bless him. The Moolavar, Sri Kuda Maadu Koothan, is seated facing east, flanked by Sridevi and Bhudevi; the Thayaar is Amrudha Kadavalli (Amirthavalli), and the Utsavar is Gopalakrishnan. The sacred tirthams are the Kodi Theertham and Amirtha Theertham, and the vimana over the sanctum is the Uchasringa Vimaanam.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Kuda Maadu Koothan (Vedanarayanan) with Amritaghatavalli (Amirthakadavalli) of Thiru Arimeya Vinnagaram is glorified by:
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