Srivillipputtur Andal temple is the foremost among the Vaishnava shrines.  It is very special because it is the place where  Andal and Periyazwar, the first of the Azhwars, incarnated. The event honoring Andal Avatar, the Aadipuram Chariot event, takes place in Pooram Nakshatra during the month of Aadi. The festival is the most significant one at the Andal temple in Srivilliputhur.

Sri Andal is one of the 12 Alvar saints of South India. She is also believed to be an incarnation of Sri Bhumi Devi (Mother-Earth), the goddess Lakshmi,. She dedicated her entire life to the worship of Lord Vishnu. Thiruppavai, the compilation of Tamil devotional poems sung by her, is still recited in Vishnu temples during the month of Margazhi.
 
The Pillar-Hall, with an artistically designed front view, welcomes us. On either side of the hall, Vanamalai Jeear monastery with shops, and monasteries of Vedantha Desikar and Manavalla Saint are set up. The next to Pillar-Hall is the Divine Marriage Hall. It looks exquisitely beautiful with sculptured figures of Yali in big pillars. A statuette of Saint Appar is found in a pillar which is in the southern entrance. On the inside ceiling of this hall, the paintings of the Nayakkar Dynasty period’s Ramayana have been drawn. These paintings are getting defaced due to a lack of proper maintenance.

Passing the Marriage Hall, we come across the hall of Flag Staff. In the columns of this hall, the carved figures of Rama, Lakshmana, Arjunan, Karnan, Rathi Devi, Manmadhan, Gugan, Kalaimagal, Veerapathirar, Sakthi, Venugopalan, Viswakarma, Rudhra kanigai, Jalandhiran and Mohini look excellently beautiful. In the northern enclosure, Old Ekadasi Hall, Glass Hall, Ointment Room, extra kitchen house and the gateway to the Heaven are found. To the south of the Flag Staff, there is a hall made of wood and in which a highly decorated Goddess Gajalakshmi statue is also seen. Nearby, there is a temple for Lord Anjaneya also. In the corner of the southwest part of this enclosure, there are panchaloga statues of Rama, Sita and Lakshmanan. In the northwest corner, there are temples for Srinivasan and Sundararajan. In the southeast corner of this enclosure, one can see Lakshminarayanan, who was worshipped by the Vaishnavite poet Periyazhvar. Nearer to it is the Madhavi Pandhal which finds reference in the Andal Thiruppavai. Upon the walls of the enclosure, 108 Vaishnavite temples have been beautifully painted.

Dhuwaraga Palagar statues have been installed on both sides of the entrance to Mahamandapam and Arthamandapam. There is a Swing Hall inside the Big Hall, which is being called “Friday Kuradu”. The statues of Thirumalai Naikkar and Chokkappa Naikkar, with their consorts, are found carved in the pillars of this hall.
Inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, Sri Andal, Rangamannar and Garudazhwar are sitting majestically on the Golden Throne. Only in this shrine, Garudazhwar can be seen sitting on equal footing with the God.
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Official Website of Sri Andal Temple-click here

Pooja Timing

Festivals at Sri Andal Temple

Aadi pooram [ஆடிப்பூரம்]

Aadi is the fourth month in the Tamil calendar. Pooram is one of the 27 Nakshatras in the Astrology. Aadi pooram is celebrated as the birth day of Sri Andal. It is also believed that Goddess Shakthi herself descends to the earth on this auspicious day to bless her devotees. Aadi Pooram is observed in all Vishnu Temples in Tamil Nadu as a 10-day celebration by offering special poojas.

Sri Andal Avatar

Vishnu Siddhar alias Periyalwar was doing the ritual of garlanding flowers and offering them to the Lord at Srivilliputhur. One day, he saw a beautiful baby girl found under a thulasi plant in Nandavanam [a sacred flower-garden]. He named the child "Gotha" and brought it up. From childhood, she grew up learning devotion and poetry from her father, Periyazwar. The stories he tells about Krishna are deeply embedded in Gothai's heart. Gothai was very devoted to Lord Krishna at a young age. Due to her immense love for Krishna, she also developed the desire to marry him. Gothai pretended to be Krishna's wife. Every day without the knowledge of Periyalwar, Gothai wore the garlands kept in the temple for the Lord. Seeing this one day, Periyalwar felt sorry. Krishna, who appeared in his dream that night, said, 'He likes the garland lit by Gotha'. After reaching marriageable age, Gothai refused the marriage arrangements made for her and was adamant to marry the Lord who resides in the Srirangam temple. The Lord appeared in the dream of Periyalvar who did not know what to do. Gothai was dressed as a bride and brought to the Srirangam temple in accordance with the Lord's directive. There, Gothai merged with the Lord and vanished.
Andal is known as ‘cūṭikkoṭutta cuṭar koṭi ’ because Perumal told Periyazvar that he wanted the garland worn by Andal to be lit. Andal is the best testimony that  every act of true devotion performed by humans.

Vadapathrasayanar [Vishnu] Temple

It is believed that this temple was established several centuries before the construction of the temple of Sri Andal. It was only in this temple that Periyazhvar had been doing his Godly service. The big tower of this temple stands as the emblem of Tamilnadu Government. This 196 feet tower has 11 tiers. During the period between 765 – 815 A.D., it was constructed by a Pandian King.

The presiding Deity in this temple is called Vadapathra Sayanar. He attained this name because of his lying on a banyan leaf in the milky ocean. There are two floors in this temple. In the Sanctum Sanctorum of the upper floor, facing eastward, the Lord Vadapathra Sayanar is lying on the bed of five headed snake called Adhiseshan, accompanied by this consorts Sri Devi and Booma Devi. In the ground floor, we find the Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal temple. We find a stone edict in the tower, which has the poem of tamil poet Kamban who equates the big tower with Mahameru mountain. The flower garden where Sri Andal got her divine birth is located in the southern enclosure of this tower.

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Thiruvannamalai Srinivasa Perumal [Vishnu] Temple

This holy place Thiruvannamalai, being called South Thirupathi, is on the top of a small hill, just 3 Km away from Srivilliputhur. Here, Lord Srinivasa Perumal is in standing posture. The appearance of this Deity is the re-embodiment of Lord Venkatesa Perumal of Tirupathi. The adoration of this God can be equated to a pilgrimage to Tirupathi.
History: Tirupati-Venkatachalapathi was coming towards Srivilliputhur to witness the wedding of Andal-Thirukalyanam. When he reached Tiruvannamalai, Naradar who came there told her that the wedding was over. So, he decided to return to Tirupati. But Andal requested Venkatachalapathi to stay on this hill and bless the people here. Venkatachalapathi accepted Andal's request and is staying in Tiruvannamalai and blessing them. Devotees who cannot go to Tirupati come here and offer their offerings to Venkatachalapathi. Hence this place is called 'Thenthirupati'.

At downward slope of this hill is the Gopalswamy temple, in the eastern part. Vanappechi Amman temple is found in the western side. A tank called “Koneri” is at the foot of the hill. On the bank of this tank, a 12' height and 8' breath statue of Lord Vinayaka exists.
There are broad steps to climb up to this hill. At present, a ceiling has been set up over these steps for providing shadow to the climbing devotees. Here, every Saturday is considered to be significant for worship.
During all the 5 Saturdays of ‘Purattasi’ month, Garuda Sevai festival is celebrated in grand mannar. Special buses are operated from all parts of the district to this holy place. People from in and around of Madurai, Theni, Ramanathapuram, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari visit this place for worship. Everyday from morning to night, State Transport Corporation buses and Mini buses are operated from Srivilliputhur bus stand to Thiruvannamalai.

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Vaidyanathaswamy [Siva] Temple

Vaidyanathaswamy temple is dedicated to the Hindu God Siva. It is located in Madavar valagam, Srivilliputhur. The temple was believed to be built 1000 years ago. It is one of the holy places where Lord Siva performed his miracles (Truvilayadalgal). The temple has a nine-tiered gopuram with a height of 134 feet.

The main shrine is Vaidyanathar as lingam in the innermost sanctum. Metal images of Somaskanda and stone sculptures of Nataraja, Durga, Dakshinamoorthy, Surya (Sun god) are in the first precinct around the sanctum. The shrine of Sivakami is located to the right of the sanctum. There is two separate entrance to both Shiva and Sivakami shrines. The Sthala Vriksha (temple tree) is margosa (Azadirachta indica) which possesses medicinal properties. The temple has two water tanks, one located opposite the temple and one right to the main gate. There are paintings from the Nayak period in the ceiling of the hall leading to the sanctum.

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Sathuragiri Hill Temple

Sathuragiri Hill has located 10 km from Watrap (Wathirairuppu) near Srivilliputhur. Two main temples namely Sri Sundara Mahalingam Temple and Sri Santhana Mahalingam Temple are situated on Sathuragiri Hills. At Santhana Mahalingam Temple, separate sanctums are found for 18 Siddhars, Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga, Navagrahas, Santhana Mahadevi (Sakthi), and Santhana Mahalingam (Lord Siva). Thousands of people visit Sathuragiri hills for aadi amavasai festival every year.

The Five Kaala Pooja are conducted according to the Kaarana Nagama Pooja system.

1 Kaalasandhi Pooja at 06:00 A.M
2 Uchikkala Poojaa (Noon Pooja) at 12:00 Noon
3 Saayaraksha Pooja (Sunset Pooja) at 04:00 P.M
4 Ardhajama Pooja (Night Pooja) at 07:00 P.M

There are many temples/sanctums in Sathuragiri and on the way to Sathuragiri. At the foothills (Vathirairuppu), we find temples of 1. Vinayagar/Ganesha, 2. RajaKali Amma, 3. Paechi Amma and 4. Karuppasamy. Of these, Paechi Amma and Karuppasamy were installed by Siddhars for guarding the southern side of the Hill.
On the way to Sathuragiri (after foothills till Sundara Mahalingam): there are
Two sanctums of Sivalingams inside two separate caves at Kora Kunda (Gorakkar Cave), Two Lingams in a single sanctum called "Irattai Lingam" or Sankaran Narayan Lingams, Vana Durgai Amma temple, and Pilavadi Karuppasamy temple.
Pilavadi Karuppasamy & Kali, are the guardian of the Sathuragiri Hills.  Vana Durgai Amma is the guardian of Sundaramahalingam temple. They safeguard the area from evil forces. The pradistai of these three guardian angels/gods were done by the Siddhas of Sathuragiri hill.
As the temple location is within the reserve forest area, permission is needed from the forest department to visit this place. People would be allowed only between 4 am to 4 pm on the permitted days.
Temple Administrative Office Postal Address
Arulmigu Sundhara Mahalingam Swamy Temple, 117/42 Agraharam Nadu Theru, Sathuragiri, Srivilliputhur, Virudhunagar District. PIN CODE: 626 132
Phone : 04563-288155,04563-293155
Mobile : 98422 97390
Official temple website: http://www.sathuragiritemple.tnhrce.in/

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Kattazhagar Temple

Kattazhagar Temple, Senbagathoppu, Srivilliputhur, India

In the westerly direction of Srivilliputhur, just 15 Km away, this temple exists atop a hill surrounded by Senbagathoppu forest area. In this temple, Lord Thirumal takes incarnation in the name of “Kattazagar”. Government buses are operated from dawn to dusk, between Srivilliputhur and Senbagathoppu. From Senbagathoppu, by walking through a dense forest, one can reach the foot of the temple hill. A holy fountain called “Nupura Gangai” is present at the base of the temple. It is the place where Saint Subadha got deliverance from the curse given by Saint Dhurvasar. There are 246 steps to ascend the mountain.

Here, Lord Sundaresa Perumal alias Kattazagar, along with Sri Devi (Sundara Valli) and Booma Devi (Soundara Valli), blesses the devotees, being in standing posture. The statues of Dhuvaragapalagar, Saint Subadha (Mandooga Maharishi), Chakkarathazvar, Senai Mudhalvan, Adhivaragar and Gnanapran are housed in the inner hall (Artha mandapam) of the temple.

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