Sri Koodal Azhagar Temple

1. The Temple is also called Tirukkoodal, Kadali Vana Kshetra, Koodalambadi.
2. This Temple is the 65th of the 108 Divya Desams.
3. It is considered the 101st Divya Desham temple. It is located in the Pandya region
4. This temple hails from the earliest Age of Sangam period. There are references of this temple in Paripadal and Silappadikaram. 
5. The presiding deity was praised and worshipped by the Sangam tamil Poets as the president and guardian deity of the Sangam and called him by the name "Thuvarikoman" (the King who ruled over from Dwaraka) and Koodal Alagar. 
6. Koodal refers to the assembly of Poets and scholars.
7. The Ancient Pandya rulers celebrated Avani Onam festival in praise of Sri Koodal Alagar for a period of seven days. 
8. This festival is vividly described in Maduraikkanchi, in the ten lengthy poems called Pathupattu of the Sangam period. 
9. Ilangovadigal praises the Lord as "Needu Near-Vaigai Nedumal" meaning the Lord who spanned the universe by taking three strides. 
10. (Thiruvokrama) Who is now seated at the bank of the river Vaigai in Archa form.
11. Apart from being the political capital of the Pandyan and Nayakan dynasties, the importance of the city of Madurai lies in the fact that it was an important centre of art and culture. 
12. Its temples are the best manifestations of its unique cultural heritage. 
13. The Koodal Alagar Temple in Madurai is an ancient temple that reflects the cultural heritage of the land in keeping with the tradition of the land.
14. Koodal Azhagar is believed to have appeared to slay the demon Somuka who abducted the four Vedas. 
15. The place is mentioned to be significant during four ages; Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga. 
16. The temple has Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities, which are otherwise found only in Lord Shiva temples.
17. Many scholars say Silappadhikaram, Paripadal, and Madurai Kanchi of the Tamil Sangam period mention the Koodal Azhagar temple. 
18. The temple was praised in the Pasuram hymns by Thirumangai Alwar and Thirumazhisai Alwar. 
19. Also, it is believed by a few that Periyalvar sang "Thiruppallandu" on the deity of this temple. 
20. Even though it is agreed that Periyalvar sang "Thiruppallandu" in Madurai, it is debatable if he sang about the God of this particular temple of Madurai.
21. As it is widely believed that these three Alwars belonged to the 7th or 8th century CE, the original temple was probably built by the early Pandyas.
22. However, the current structure of the temple belongs to the Vijayanagaras and Nayakas. It is said that the original inscriptions of the temple were shifted to different places during the renovation. 
23. We can find only three remaining inscriptions belonging to the Nayaka period.
24. In the 14th century CE, when Madurai was attacked by the Muslim rulers, it is believed that this temple was protected by Tiruvai Mozhi Pillai, the Vaishnavite saint. 
25. When Chanda Sahib annexed Madurai in 1739 CE, the processional images of the temple, along with that of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, were shifted to ManaMadurai, a nearby locality. 
26. When Madurai was controlled by Maratha General Murari Rao, they were brought back to this temple in 1741 by Apache Nayakkar. 
27. Though there is no authentic evidence, it is believed that Oomai Durai, the brother of Veera Pandya Katta Bomman, was hiding in this temple for a few days (in the early 19th century CE).
28. Few mandaps were built in the 20th century CE. 
29. The temple tower (Raja gopuram) was constructed in 1945 CE. 

PURANIC SIGNIFICANCE:

1. This sthalam is situated in Madurai, which is famous for all the temples found here. And, Madurai is famous for the Meenakshi Amman temple. 
2. All the Devas of the Lokam and Munivar came all together for the Meenakshi Amman to Sivaperumaan in this sthalam and because of this, the sthalam is called "Koodal". 
3. Koodal means all of the persons (or) group of people coming (or) joining together. Sivaperuman Who is the entire structure of Gnanam, and Sakthi are married to each other, and the Paramathma, Sri Emperumaan, is assisting and helping them in getting married. 
4. Gnanam, sakthi, Beauty, Bhakti and wealth are joined together in the same place and they give their Kalyana seva to the entire world. 
5. When Konedu Maaran Sri Vallabha devan was ruling the city, Periyalwar on seeing the beauty of Azhagar, he sang the great, "Thiruppallandu" in praise of Azhagar.
6. It is said that Koodal Azhagar appeared here to destroy Somuka, the demon who decamped with all the sacred Vedas. And the legend, too, has an interesting tale to tell about the Lord.
7. Once King Vallabhadeva was ruling Madurai, and he used to go around his city in disguise, to learn about the condition and feelings of the people. While he was on his rounds, he met a scholar who declared that the prime goal of life is to ‘collect provisions during summer and save for the winter.’ 
8. On the face of it, this seemed to mean that one should earn when young and save for old age. 
9. But the king was not convinced by this interpretation, felt that this statement carried a more profound meaning, and announced a competition in this regard. 
10. Vishnuchittar of Srivilliputhur, as directed by Lord Vishnu, established that Vishnu or Narayana is the ultimate refuge, and attaining his feet is the only means for salvation.
11. Overjoyed with this explanation, the king hailed Vishnuchittar and gifted him with a bag full of gold coins. 
12. Vishnu, too, appeared to greet Vishnuchittar on his accomplishment, and an overwhelmed Vishnuchittar sang hymns in his praise. 
13. It is said that this temple stands in the place where the Lord appeared for Vishnuchittar, who subsequently came to be hailed as Periyazhwar and counted among the great Azhwar saints.
14. It is said that Periazhwar built the imposing Srivilliputhur temple tower, with the wealth he thus got.

PURANIC SIGNIFICANCE 2:

1. Brahmanda Purana vividly describes this kshetra in seven chapters. 
2. Sri Koodal Alagar is seated in the Ashtanga vimana flanked by his consorts. 
3. The legendary Kings Prithu, Malaydioaja worshipped Sri Koodal Alagar, who bestowed them with prosperity and attainment of moksha at the end.
4. Alwars are mystical saints who glorified the presence of Narayana in temples by their hymns. 
5. Vishnu chittha has a unique position. 
6. He was invited to visit the Pandya Court at Madurai in order to settle the disputes among the various religious sects. 
7. Vishnuchitha established the supremacy of Sriman Narayana by quoting profusely the vedic texts in support of his argument. 
8. At the end of his argument a miracle happened. 
9. The purse containing gold coins suspended in a pole landed down in the hand of Vishnuchittha.
10. This was a divine acceptance!. 
11. The King celebrated this victory by seating Vishnuchittha on the decorated throne placed on the back of a royal elephant and he himself led the procession accompanied by the vedic Pandits. 
12. Sri Koodal Alagar, pleased by the grand victory, appeared before the procession seated on the shoulders of Garuda the divine vehicle and blessed Vishnuchittha. 
13. Vishnuchittha got himself immersed in the infinite beauty of the lord, regaining his senses he blessed the lord with a long life of thousands of years by expressing his wishes in the form of twelve verses in tamil known as Thirupallandu.
14. Vishnuchittha recited the verse in tune with the ringing of the bells tied to the elephant. 
15. He offered Mangalasasanam at the holy feet of Sri Koodal Alagar. 
16. Thirupallandu is recited even today as the starting invocations in the shrines. 
17. The Pandya King praised Vishnuchittha as "Pattar piran" while the lord gave him the name "Periyalwar". 
18. Vishnuchitta is regarded as the foremost among the twelve Alwars by the merit of his infinite love and utterance of Pallandu, which was given the foremost place in the recital of Divya Prabandam by Nathamuni who confided the Naalayira divya prabandam.

PURANIC SIGNIFICANCE 3:

1. The Alwars (meaning ‘those immersed in god’) were Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused bhakti (devotion) to the Supreme Godhead Vishnu in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. 
2. They are venerated especially in Sri Vaishnavism.
3. Periyalwar, one among the twelve Alwars, occupies a special place among Alwars as he became the father-in-law of Sri Ranganatha, the Deity handed over to Ikshvaku, who depicts the start of the lineage of Surya Vamsha (the lineage of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Rama), when Periyalwar’s daughter Andal married Him. Periyalwar appeared in Srivilliputhur on Swathi nakshatram of the Tamil month Aani. He is believed to be the part of Garutman. 
4. Garutman is a bird with beautiful and strong wings and is a powerful deity mentioned in the Vedas. 
5. The Rigveda mentions the sun as the celestial bird, or Garutman. He is also known as Suparna, which means the strong-winged one. 
6. As per the Mahabharata, Garuda, the celestial vehicle of Supreme Personality of Godhead Vishnu, is same as Garutman.
7. Historically Periyalwar is placed around the latter part of the 6th century A.D. 
8. He belonged to a family of devout Vaishnava brahmins and was named Vishnuchitta. True to his name, his mind dwelt constantly on the form and pastimes of the Lord. 
9. He did not show much interest in learning scriptures and constantly enjoyed relating with the Lord as little Krishna. 
10. He wanted to perform some service which the Lord was especially fond of. With this objective, he set up a beautiful garden with a great variety of flowers and tulasi plants. 
11. He used to prepare specially decorated garlands and offered them to the Lord at the Vatapathrasaayee temple.
12. Once, the king of Madurai named Vallabha Deva came to Srivilliputhur in disguise to know about the welfare of his citizens. 
13. He saw a brahmana sleeping on the front porch of a house and stopped to enquire about him. 
14. The brahmana told the king that he was a pilgrim returning south after a tour of many temples in the Gangetic plains. 
15. The king asked the brahmana to teach him some shlokas that would lead to his enlightenment. 

The pilgrim recited a shloka, the substance of which runs as follows:



1.  “One has to gather everything necessary for the rainy season when the sun shines. One has to save for old age by working hard during the younger days. 
2. Similarly, one has to search for the ultimate reality in this birth to benefit in the next birth.” 
3. The king was greatly impressed by the shloka and honoured the brahmana. His mind dwelt on the futility of his past life and he constantly worried over what is the ultimate reality. 
4. He could not choose his faith from the various paths offered by different religions. 
5. He called his family preceptor named Selvanambi and asked him to call scholars and philosophers of various faiths to a contest which would determine the reality. 
6. The king tied a big bag of gold coins to a long vertical pole and announced in the contest that the booty would go to the scholar who could bring it down with his faith. For many days, a number of scholars tried in vain to do this with their scholarly works, eloquent speeches and heated debates. 
7. One night the Lord appeared in Vishnuchitta’s (Periyalwar) dream and asked him to go to the king’s court and win the contest. Vishnuchitta woke up in the morning and proceeded to the king’s palace according to the Lord’s direction. 
8. However he was well aware of his limitations, as he had never shown any interest in scriptural learning. 
9. He was confident that the Lord’s will always prevail. In the King’s court, he proceeded to talk about Sriman Narayana as the ultimate reality. 
10. The words started flowing as a torrent as he went on quoting the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas. Selvanambi, the king and the entire gathering were thrilled to the core by his faith and were astounded to see the bag of coins fall on its own accord into Vishnuchitta’s palms. 
11. The whole court acknowledged that Vishnuchitta had the special grace of the Lord. The king honoured him with the title “Bhattar Piran” (lord of brahmanas).
12. The king honoured Vishnuchitta by setting him on the royal elephant and arranging a procession around his capital. 
13. Sriman Narayana Himself appeared in the sky on His vehicle Garuda with His consorts like a happy parent wishing to join in the celebrations for His accomplished son. 
14. Alwar became joyous at the divine vision of the Lord and became greatly worried about any evil eye falling on the eternally beautiful form of the Lord and harming Him. 
15. Vishnuchitta attained the mental state of a concerned mother and performed obeisance to the Lord spontaneously as a poem called Thiru Pallandu or “may you live long” poem.
16. The first two verse of this poem go like this:
17. For many hundreds, thousands and crores of years, may the bright red lotus feet of the gem-hued Lord with mighty wrestling shoulders, be protected. 
18. This inseparable bond between us, may it last many thousand years. 
19. May Mahalakshmi, who ever adorns the Lord’s right chest, live an uncountable number of years.
20.  May the fiery luminous Sudharshan chakra on the right hand live many uncountable years. 
21. May the Panchajanya, the famous conch which strikes terror in the battlefield, live many uncountable years.