Nindra Nambi Perumal Temple, Thirukkurungudi

Sthala Purāṇam

Thirukkurungudi, the Nindra Nambi Perumal temple at the foot of Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli, enshrines the Lord as Nambi, the embodiment of every righteous and gracious quality joined with beauty. The principal form, Nindra Nambi (Vaishnava Nambi, Azhagia Nambirayar), stands east-facing, and the consort Goddess is Thirukurungudivalli Nachiar, with Neela Devi also revered. The temple's signature is the Pancha Nambi, the five Nambis dispersed across the kshetra: Ninra Nambi (standing), Irundha Nambi (seated), Kidandha Nambi (reclining), Thiruparkadal Nambi near the Nambiyaru river, identified as the Vamana form and Lord of the milk-ocean, and Thirumalai Nambi upon the hill. The name Kurungudi carries the sense of the short or condensed: tradition relates it to the Lord who, even after expanding as Trivikrama, gives darshan here in a small (vamana) form, while another reading links it to the Lord assuming a condensed form. The temple's celebrated legend is that of Nambaduvan, a devout singer who each night sang to the Lord in the Kaisiki raga; waylaid by a brahmarakshasa who would devour him, he vowed to return after his singing, and, true to his word, came back to offer himself, whereupon the demon, moved by his truthfulness and the merit of his song, was liberated; this is re-enacted each year on Kaisika Ekadasi. Nammalvar is closely tied to this kshetra, the Lord having foretold his birth. The vimana is the five-tiered Panchakedaka Vimana, and the tirthams include Thiruppaarkadal and Pancha Thurai. This Divya Desam was hymned by Nammalvar, Thirumangai Alvar, Periyalvar and Thirumalisai Alvar.

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