Krishnan, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Krishnan	Ambal / Thayar:	Rukmini, Satyabhama
Deity:	Perumal	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	5.30 to 11 & 5.30 to 8	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Nagercoil	District:	Kanyakumari
Maps from (click):	Current location	Nagercoil (4 km)	Kanyakumari (22 km)
	Tirunelveli (83 km)	Thoothukudi (130 km)

Location

Nagercoil is located very close to Suchindram, and is about 20km from Kanyakumari.

Sthala puranam and temple information

This temple is considered the Guruvayoor of the south, and is a prominent temple in Nagercoil. The suburb in which this temple is located, has come to be called Krishnancoil.

Aditya Varman, a king of Thiruvananthapuram, was a staunch devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan and wanted to build a temple for him. One night, Lord Krishna appeared in the King’s dream as a child, with butter in his hand, and asked him to build the temple for him. The king installed an idol as visualized by him in the dream and built the temple.

As Krishna was a shepherd boy in his childhood, the utsavamurti is Rajagopalan here, along with Rukmini and Satyabhama.

Every evening, during ardhajama pooja, Krishna is put in a silver cradle and rocked with a thalattu (lullaby), to be put to bed. Many devotees observe this and pray for childbirth.

The garbhagriham is dedicated to Lord Krishna only and does not have shrines for any other deities, including in the koshtams. However, outside this (and within the temple premises) is a shrine for Dharma Sastha, and a Siva Lingam under a Kondrai tree as part of Nagar. The flagstaff has the images of the ashta-digpaalas (keepers of the eight directions).

Nammazhvar, Periyazhvar and Vishvaksena are enshrined in a common place. Garudazhwar stands in front of Krishnan.

The temple’s annual ten-day festival is conducted during the Tamil month of Chithirai (April-May).