Srivaikuntanathan Perumal Temple, Srivaikuntam
ஸ்ரீவைகுண்டநாதன் பெருமாள் கோயில், ஸ்ரீவைகுண்டம்
Why this temple matters
On the Tamiraparani in the far south, Vishnu stands as Sri Vaikuntanathan, the lord of Vaikuntha — the Sun among the nine planetary Tirupati, a Divya Desam sung by Nammalvar and a chief of the nine river shrines.
History
Srivaikuntam lies on the north bank of the Tamiraparani, a short way from Tirunelveli, and takes its name from the lord Sri Vaikuntanathan who reclines at its heart, also beloved as Kallapiran. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the abodes of Vishnu sung by the Alvar saints in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, and one of the Nava Tirupati — the nine temples of the Tamiraparani, each held as a planetary shrine of the Vaishnavas. Among the Nava Tirupati it is honoured as the shrine of the Sun, Surya.
Architecture
Built in the Dravidian manner of the Pandya country and its later patrons, the temple is entered through a gateway tower and gathered around the sanctum of the presiding Vishnu, with the Goddess in her own shrine. Here the lord is worshipped as Sri Vaikuntanathan, with the Goddess Vaikuntavalli. Pillared halls open before the sanctum, in the temple manner of the deep south.
Legends
The Nava Tirupati are worshipped together as the nine planetary shrines of the Vaishnavas: where the Shaiva tradition of the Kaveri keeps nine separate Navagraha temples, here the nine planets are honoured across the nine abodes of Vishnu on the Tamiraparani, all sung by Nammalvar, the foremost of the Alvars, whose own birthplace is Alvarthirunagari among them. At Srivaikuntam the planet is the Sun, Surya, whose grace the pilgrim seeks at the head of the nine.
Festivals
The temple keeps the great Vaishnava festivals — Vaikunta Ekadashi, the Garuda Sevai when the nine are worshipped in a single round, and the days of Nammalvar and the Alvars — with processions through the riverside villages. The Tamiraparani's own festivals draw the surrounding country.
The Experience
A quiet riverside Divya Desam among the nine, rewarding for the pilgrim who follows the Tamiraparani from one Tirupati to the next. As the shrine of the Sun, it takes its place in the single pilgrimage of the Nava Tirupati that gathers the nine planets into the abodes of Vishnu.