Sri Sowmya Narayana perumal temple, Thirukoshtiyur



About the temple

Sri Uraga Mellanayaan is the presiding deity of the temple and the moolavar gives darshan in sleeping posture. The utsavar is called Sri Sowmya Narayana perumal and thayar in a seperate sannadhi is Thirumagal nachiyar.

In the second tier, Upendra nathan gives darshan in Nindra kolam with periya piratti and bhoomi piratti. There is a beautiful painting of Indra loka in the background.

The presiding deity of the third tier is Sri Paravasudevan with Bhoo devi thayar.

Lord Narasimha also gives darshan in the temple in three forms - as Ugra Narasimhar, Yoga Narasimhar and Lakshmi Narasimhar.

Since Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva came together here as a koshti meaning group in tamil to decide about Narasimha avataram of Lord Vishnu, the place came to be known as Thirukoshtiyur -wherein thiru means three, kosthi means group and yur means place - the place where the three met as a group in tamil

Devotees can cover Thirukoshtiyur as well Thirumayyam divyadesams in half a day's trip.

How to reach

The temple is in Sivaganga district and around 10 kms from Tirupattur. The nearest railheads are Pudukottai, Madurai and Karaikudi. Lot of buses pass through Tirupattur and autos as well buses are available to the temple from there.

The nearest airport is Madurai -around 75 kms away.

Sannadhis

Perumal in three tiers
Ramanujar
Thirukoshtiyur Nambi
Shiva
Vinayagar
Senai Mudaliyandan
Alwars
Anjaneya
Nardhana Krishna with Rukmini and Sathyabhama
Thirumagal Thayar
Andal
Sudharsana/ Chakratalwar
Ramar 
Yoga Narasimhar
Lakshmi Narasimhar and Ugra Narasimhar in the praharam


Specialty of the temple


The Ashtanga vimanam of the temple is a rare one and such kind of vimanam is present in very few temples like Madurai Koodal Azhagar temple, Uttiramerur temple and Vaikunda perumal temple in Kanchipuram. The specialty is that the vimanam never casts shadows

Devotees can have darshan of the Lord as in all the lokas - Nardhana Krishna in Bhooloka -base tier, Sowmyanarayana perumal in Devaloka - first tier, Upendra narayana in Indraloka -second tier and Paramapadha nathan in Vaikuntam - third tier.

The place is also known for Ramanuja's preaching of Ashtakshara mantram from the top of the temple vimanam. After his pancha samaskaram at Madhurantakam, his guru asked him to visit Thirukosthiyur and learn the Asthakshara mantram from Thirukoshtiyur nambi. Ramanuja went to him and knocked at his door..When asked who it is, Ramanuja said, I have come Ramanuja..Thirukoshtiyur Nambi turned him back and the same thing happened 17 times. The 18th time, he said "Adiyen dasan Ramanujar" meaning your disciple and only then Thirukoshtiyur nambi came out and said now that your arrogance has gone we can talk. Ramanuja requests him to teach the Ashtakshara mantram to which Nambi says he would teach on the condition that Ramanuja wouldnt tell it to anyone else. After learning the mantra "Om namo narayana" Ramanuja went to the upper tier of the temple vimanam and called out to the people in the village to come out and hear the mantra. Thirukoshtiyur nambi got angry and said that if he revealed the mantra to others, he would go to hell. To this, Ramanuja replied that if he reveals, all the people hearing and chanting it will go to Vaikuntam and only he will go to hell and he prefers this rather than he alone going to Vaikuntam. Thirukoshtiyur Nambi realised his mistake and called him Emberumanar meaning my Lord. There is seperate sannadhis for Ramanujar and Thirukoshtiyur nambi in the temple. There is a statue of Ramanujar in the Ashtanga Vimanam at the place from where he preached the Ashtakshara mantram to the people of Thirukosthiyur.

Temple timings

The temple is open in the mornings from 7 am to 12 noon and in the evenings from 5 pm to 8.30 pm.

Temples in proximity

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