Sri Purushottam perumal -Uthamar kovil, Thirukarambanur

About the temple

The temple is among the 108 divyadesams of Sri Vaishnavas and comes under Choza naatu divyadesams. The presiding deity is known as Lord Purushottaman and thayar is called Poornavalli thayar. There is a seperate sannadhi for thayar. This is the only divyadesam where there are shrines to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswati apart from Lord Vishnu and Poornavalli thayar. Once Lord Shiva cut off Lord Brahma's one head in a fit of anger and to get rid of this sin, Lord Shiva went to several temples begging for alms. However, once he got alms, the bowl would get empty. Finally at Uthamar kovil, Goddess Mahalakshmi gave him alms on instructions from Lord Vishnu and that stayed in his bowl. Hence, Lord Shiva continued to stay here and came to be known as Bikshandar.

Since Thirumangai azhwar praised the lord here as Uthamar, the place came to known as Uthamar kovil. Another specialty of the temple is that Lord Ranganathar visits the temple once every year from Srirangam. Also, it is believed that the Lord blesses childless couples who pray here with children.There are beautiful paintings of Dasavathara in the temple complex.

How to reach

The temple is about 10 kms from Trichy railway station and around 2 kms from Srirangam. There are several buses from Chathiram bus stand. The nearest railhead and airport is Tiruchirapalli. From tollgate, take the road towards Gunaseelam SH 25 and instead of going over the flyover, go below it on the right side to reach the temple.

Sannadhis

Lord Purushottam
Poornavalli thayar
Lord Brahma
Mahalakshmi thayar
Bala Lingam
Dakshinamoorthy
Irattai Vinayagar
Lakshmi Narayana perumal
Ramar
Soundarya parvathy
Bhikshandeswarar
Venugopala
Navagraha
Dasaratha Lingam
Varadaraja perumal
Durgai
Chandikeseva
Alwars and Acharyas
Gyan Saraswati

Temple tank and vimanam

The temple tank is called Kadamba theertham and vimanam is known as Karamba vimanam or Udyoga vimanam.

Temple timings

The temple is open in the mornings from 6 am to 12.30 pm and in the evenings from 4 pm to 8.30 pm.

Temples in proximity

Srirangam Ranganathar temple, Uchi pillaiyar temple