Aadi Kesava Perumal, Nallur, Thanjavur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Aadi Kesava Perumal	Ambal / Thayar:	Sridevi, Bhudevi
Deity:	Perumal	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	to & to	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Nallur	District:	Thanjavur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Kumbakonam (13 km)	Thanjavur (30 km)
	Ariyalur (42 km)	Tiruvarur (49 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

This small temple for Vishnu as Adi Kesava Perumal, is located in Nallur, to the rear (west) of the Kalyana Sundareswarar temple in that village.

In olden times, almost invariably, both Siva and Perumal temples would exist in most places. This is the Perumal temple connected to the Kalyana Sundareswarar temple of Nallur.

Today the temple sports a single shrine, but records and also inscriptions in the Kalyana Sundareswarar temple indicate that this used to be a much larger temple, and also an old one. No specific information is available on the age of this temple, thought it is believed that the original Perumal temple was constructed just a few years after the Siva temple. Last records of renovation were in 1947, after which it appears to have been renovated again in 2020 or 2021.

The Siva temple sthala puranam also includes a legend about Vishnu taking the form of Narasimhar, as desired by Siva. The slaying of Hiranyakashipu by Narasimhar is commemorated annually, as part of the ten-day Narasimha Jayanti Brahmotsavam celebrations of this temple.

In the Chola period, this place was also called Panchavan Madevi Chaturvedi Mangalam, in Nallur Nadu, a sub-division of Nritta Vinoda Vala Nadu.