Brihan Madhavan, Kodaganallur, Tirunelveli


Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:Brihan MadhavanAmbal / Thayar:Sridevi, Bhoodevi
Deity:PerumalHistorical name:
Vriksham:Teertham:Tambraparani, Karkotaka Teertham
Agamam:

Age (years):

1000-2000

Timing: to & to Parikaram:

Sarpa dosham nivritti sthalam

Temple group:
Sung by:

Temple set:

Navagraham:

Nakshatram:

City / town:KodaganallurDistrict:Tirunelveli
Maps from (click): Current location Tirunelveli (17 km)Nagercoil (75 km)

Thoothukudi (79 km)Kanyakumari (84 km)

Location

Kodaganallur is located 22km from Tirunelveli, close to Cheran Madevi.

Sthala puranam and temple information

Situated on the banks of river Tambraparani, this temple also known as Periapiran temple is dedicated to Vishnu.

One of the stories in the Mahabharatam involves Nala the king, who was in exile in disguise. During a forest fire, Nala saved Karkotaka, the naga. In the process, Karkotaka bit Nala, and was afflicted by various sins for having been such an ingrate – these also prevented him from learning the Brahma Gnanam. Kakotaka performed penance and Vishnu blessed him here. As a result, Agastyar took Karkotaka on as a student and imparted the knowledge to the naga. With his powers back, Karkotaka also gifted Nala a robe, upon wearing which, Nala’s handsomeness returned to him.

Over time, the place took the name Karkotaka Nallur, which corrupted to Kodaganallur. Due to the connection with Karkotaka the naga, this is a sarpa dosha nivritti sthalam.

The temple is popular for the special pooja conducted to Garuda for clearing all ill effects of poisonous snake bites. Lord Garuda is seen here with a pot carrying the nectar.

The temple has several inscriptions, and some of these are dated to the 12th and 13th century Pandya period. These indicate that the place used to be called Kodanur (possibly a variation derived from Karkotakan’s name) and also Chaturvedi Mangalam (indicating this was a residential area allocated for brahmins, in that time). The many contributions of the Pandya kings Kulasekara Pandyan and Maravarman Sundara Pandyan are also mentioned.

Other information for your visit

Very close to this temple is the Kodaganallur Kailasanathar Nava Kailasam temple, as well as the small but beautiful west-facing Abhimukteeswarar temple, both on the banks of the Tambraparani.

Contact

Please do leave a comment

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s