Srivaikuntanathan Perumal Temple

Sthala Purāṇam

Srivaikuntam, the chief of the Nava Tirupati, enshrines Vishnu as Vaikunthanathan (Vaikuntanathar) with his consort Vaikunthavalli, on the banks of the Thamiraparani river in Thoothukudi district. Several sthala puranas attach to this kshetram. In one, the demon Somukasura defeated Brahma and stole the Vedas; Brahma performed penance on the Thamiraparani bank, and Vishnu took the Matsya (fish) avatar to slay the demon, recover the Vedas and take up abode here as Vaikunthanathan. The most celebrated account explains the festival deity's name Kallapiran (from the Tamil 'kalla', thief). A robber chief, Kaladushana, who shared his stolen wealth with devotees, prayed for protection from the pursuing Pandya king; the Lord himself took the robber's form, surrendered to the king in his place, and later revealed in a dream the lesson that even ill-gotten wealth given in devotion reaches righteous hands. Another legend tells of a long-buried image discovered when a cow daily emptied its milk over the spot, giving the king the title 'Pal Pandian' (milk Pandya). A distinctive feature tied to the legend is that Adishesha guards the standing Vishnu in a standing posture, said to be unique to this temple. In the Navagraha scheme that overlays the Nava Tirupati, Srivaikuntam is the Surya (Sun) sthalam. Nammalvar sang this Divya Desam in his Tiruvaymoli; during the Vaikasi (May-June) Garuda Sevai festival of the Nava Tirupati, an idol of Nammalvar is brought on the Anna Vahanam and his pasurams for each of the nine Thamiraparani temples are recited. Pandya kings such as Jatavarman Kulasekara and Maravarman Sundara Pandyan endowed the temple.

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📍 8.63117, 77.90961

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