| Tiruvelukkai | |
|---|---|
 Images of the temple's deities | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Kanchipuram district |
| Deity | Aḻagiya Singar (Vishnu) Amuthavalli (Lakshmi) |
| Location | |
| Location | Kanchipuram |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location inTamil Nadu | |
| Geographic coordinates | 12°49′20″N79°42′24″E / 12.82222°N 79.70667°E /12.82222; 79.70667 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Dravidian architecture |
Tiruvelukkai located inKanchipuram in theSouth Indian state ofTamil Nadu, is dedicated to theHindu godVishnu. Constructed in theDravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in theNalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medievalTamil canon of theAlvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Aḻagiya Singar (Narasimha) and his consortLakshmi as Amruthavalli. This is the smallest divyadesam in Kanchipuram, howeverVedanta Desika wrote kamasikashtakam on this perumal.
The temple is believed to have been built by thePallavas of the late 8th century CE, with later contributions fromMedieval Cholas andVijayanagara kings. The temple has three inscriptions on its walls, two dating from the period ofKulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE) and one to that ofRajadhiraja Chola (1018-54 CE). A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all the shrines and two bodies of water. There is a 3-tieredrajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, in the temple.
Aḻagiya Singar is believed to have appeared to slayHiranyakashipu, the tyrannicalasura king. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which theKrishna Janmasthami festival, celebrated during theTamil month ofAvani (August–September), being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.
Velukkai is derived fromVel (desire) andirukkai (place of stay), meaning the place where Vishnu desired to stay, which became Velukkai from Velirukkai.[1] It is believed that the original image of the temple was east facing standing posture of Vishnu as he appeared for Bhrigu Maharishi and later appeared as Aḻagiya Singar.[2] According to the temple'sregional legend, once, there was an argument betweenSaraswati, the consort ofBrahma andLakshmi on superiority. They went toIndra, the king of the celestial deities. Indra judged Lakshmi as superior. Not satisfied with his argument, Saraswati went to her husband, Brahma. He also chose Lakshmi to be the superior one. Saraswati was unhappy with the decision and decided to stay away from Brahma. Brahma did a severe penance praying to Vishnu and did anashvamedha yajna. Saraswati was still angry that theyajna, which usually is done along with consorts was done alone by Brahma. She tried to disrupt the penance in various ways, but Vishnu interfered in all her attempts. After all the demons were killed byVishnu, who were sent bySaraswati to destroy theyajna (penance) done byBrahma, she sent Kapalika, a demon.Vishnu took the form of Narhari to kill the demon.[3]
The presiding deity is Narasimhar (also called Mukunda Nayaka) is depicted in a seated posture facing West.[1] The temple is located close to theTiruththanka temple in Vishnu Kanchipuram. The temple has three shrines, one each for the presiding deity Aḻagiya Singar, one for his consort Amruthavalli and other forGaruda.[3]
The temple follows the traditions of thetenkalai sect of Vaishnava tradition and followsVaikanasa Agama. Desikar wrote vegasetu stotra on this temple. The temple priests perform thepuja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to theVaishnava community, from the Brahmin class. The temple rituals are performed six times a day:Ushathkalam at 7 a.m.,Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m.,Uchikalam at 12:00 p.m.,Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m.,Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m. andArdha Jamam at 10:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps:alangaram (decoration),neivethanam (food offering) anddeepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Aḻagiya Singar and Amruthavalli. During the last step of worship,nadasvaram (pipe instrument) andtavil (percussion instrument) are played, religious instructions in theVedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of thetemple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.[4]
The temple is revered inNalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, byPeyalvar,Bhoothathalvar,Thirumalisai Alvar andTirumangai Alvar. The Alvars have sung praise on the different forms of the deity. The temple is classified as aDivya Desam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. Manyacharyas have also written songs on the various forms of God in this temple.[3]
