Aadi Kesava Perumal, Tiruvattaru, Kanyakumari

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Aadi Kesava Perumal	Ambal / Thayar:	Maragadavalli
Deity:	Perumal	Historical name:	Tiruvattaru
Vriksham:		Teertham:	Vattaru, Rama Teertham, sea water
Agamam:		Age (years):	2000-3000
Timing:	7 to 12 & 4 to 8	Parikaram:
Temple group:	Divya Desam	–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Tiruvattaru	District:	Kanyakumari
Maps from (click):	Current location	Nagercoil (32 km)	Kanyakumari (51 km)
	Tirunelveli (82 km)	Thoothukudi (138 km)

Location

Tiruvattaru is located close to Marthandam, and about 30 km from Nagercoil.

Sthala puranam and temple information

During the yagam conducted by Brahma, two demons Kesan and Kesi emerged out of the agni, and started troubling the devas and rishis. Lord Vishnu decimated both of them and used Kesi as his bed. Kesi’s wife was very upset and tried to submerge the Lord with the help of rivers Tambraparani and Ganga. Both the rivers started flowing in full flow towards the resting Lord. On seeing this, Bhudevi made the Lord’s abode slightly higher such that the rivers had to go around the mound like a garland. The derived the name of vattar (circular or curved river) for the village.

Kesi tried to squeeze the Lord with his twelve hands and Vishnu kept a rudraksham in each of his hands. Each of these rudraksh became a Siva temple around the Lord. On the Mahasivaratri, devotees go to each of the Siva temples and finish by praying to Perumal here.

The temple is older than Ananta Padmanabha Swami temple in Tiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum,). Aadi Kesava Perumal is regarded as the elder brother of Ananta Padmanabha Swami, and so this place is referred to as Aadi Anantapuram. On similar lines, because of its ancience and being located in the Chera region, the temple is also referred to as Chera Naattu Srirangam.

Lord Vishnu here is in sayana kolam with his left hand down and right hand in a blessing posture. There is no lotus flower from his navel, indicating prayers here ensure salvation and mukti.

Perumal’s idol is massive, and one can see the lord only through three doors because of the size. Nammazhvar had done mangalsasanam here.

The temple also has a beautiful Udupi Krishna shrine.