Pundarikaasha Perumal Temple at Thiruvellarai Thanks Rajamala. Thiruvellarai near Trichy is one of the 108 Divya Desams. This temple which is even older than the Srirangam temple is considered to be the oldest among the Vaishnavite temples of the South. It is believed that this temple was built by Sibhi Chakravarthy, a forefather of Lord Rama seven generations before Him. It is believed that 64 Chaturyugas has passed since this temple was first consecrated. For your understanding, each Chaturyuga cycle comprises of four Yugas namely, Satya Yuga for 1728000 years, Treta Yuga for 1296000 years, Dwapara Yuga for 864000 years and Kali Yuga for 432000 years. Thus one Chaturyuga cycle which comprises of the four Yugas has 4320000 years. This is divided between the four Yugas in the ratio 4:3:2:1, in their chronological order. The main Deity is Pundarikaasha Perumal who is in a standing position facing East. His Consort is Shenbagavalli Thayar also known as Periya Pirattiyar Lakshmi Devi, has a separate sannadhi. The Utsavar Thayar is known as Pangajavalli. In the Mulavar sannadhi the deities present are Pundarikakshan, Bhoomi Piratti, Periya piratti, Suriya and Chandiran and Aadisheshan. There are also shrines for Lord Krishna, Vishwaksenar, Manavala Muni, Ramanujar apart from Nammazhwar, Chakarathazhwar, Nadhamunigal, Kulasekara Azhwar, Thondarippodi Azhwar and Andal. Thiruvellarai near Trichy is one of the 108 Divya Desams. This temple which is even older than the Srirangam temple is considered to be the oldest among the Vaishnavite temples of the South. It is believed that this temple was built by Sibhi Chakravarthy, a forefather of Lord Rama seven generations before Him. According to the legends Garudan, Markandeya and Lakshmi worshipped the Lord here. Markandeya who was save by Lord Shiva from Yama, the Lord of death, at Thirukkadaiyur was guided to Thiruvellarai when he prayed to Lord Shiva for Moksham. Here he had the darshan of Lord Vishnu and also attained moksham. According to a legend, Sibhi Chakravarthy – Lord Rama’s forefather was passing through this place on his way to wage a war over the Asura King Ravana. As his army neared Thiruvellarai, a white boar was continually obstructing them. An angry Sibhi Chakravarthy chased the white boar which disappeared into a ant hill. Markandeya was in a penance nearby and sibhi Chakravarthy told him about his chase of the white boar. Markandeya asked Sibhi to perform abhishegam to the ant hill as the white boar was none other than Lord Vishnu Himself. Accordingly, the king performed the abhishegam. Lord Vishnu immediately appeared to both of them and blessed them. He also asked Sibhi Chakravarthy not to go in pursuit of Ravana as he was destined to die only at the hands of the Lord Himself. Lord Vishnu told him that Ravana would be killed by Him in his later Avatar as Lord Rama. He also asked Sibhi Chakravarthy to build a temple here and said that Thayar should be given prominence here as it was Her wish. Hence this place is also known as Shwetha Varaha Kshetram. It is said that Sibhi Chakravarthi brought about 3700 Vaishnavite families from his kingdom to build the temple here. Over a period of time many of these families left for places all over south, including Karnataka, and took up the responsibilities of performing daily pujas at various temples. It is said that all the temple priests of the Vaishnavite temples of South India have their roots in Thiruvellarai. It is no wonder that this place is considered very sacred. It is said that one must visit Thiruvellarai at least once in his lifetime and have a darshan of the Lord here. “Thiruvellarai Kandeero, Kandaen Ayya”

The Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple or Thiruvellarai Temple in Thiruvellarai, a a village in the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli. It is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. The temple is constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Pundarikakshan and his consort Lakshmi as Pankajavalli. Based on the inscriptions, it is believed that this temple is built by Pallava kings. Currently the condition of the temple is not very good and it needs proper attention.

One of the finest ancient temples. I was told that it is 1,000 years old. Very calm. The priests care to explain the importance of the temple.

Thiruvellarai temple is so beautiful that the entrance itself gives us feel like a Maharashtra temple. the temple is so peacful with lots of parrots and pigeons everywhere. and you can see many male peacocks with big feathers roaming everywhere inside temple which almost looked like visiting a peacock's sancutary. the temple built llike a fort covering with gigiantic walls around temple with lots of broad place to walk around temple. the temple was really well maintained by management. please visit during saturdays and on other important days like full moon to see special poojas. and there is cave like temple behind karbagraha, native people says that it was place for siddhars to meditate and worship god. if you sit for few mins with eyes closed you can definitely feel the positive energy there. you can spend a whole day inside temple and am sure that you'll never get bored.

Om namo narayanaya 🙏. Ancient temple. One of the Divya Desam among 108. Main deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu. Thiruvellarai locate at Trichy-Thuraiyur route. From Thiruvellarai bus stop, temple is walkable distance only. Frequent buses available from Trichy Chatram Bus Stand to reach Thiruvellarai. Near this temple, Swastika Well is there. Thiruppaingneeli temple (Lord Shiva) is near to this temple (Around 4 KM only).

Among 108 perumal divya desam its 6th one. Good temple and renovation on sides laided with stones and good place snd also we can see from here and swasthik pond is famous here the swasthik like kulam there we can bath in that older days one cannot see others bathing now bushes and flowers sampling taken place everyone should watch this temple and swasthik kulam

A lovely temple, approximately 1200+ years old. Must visit and spend some time soaking in the atmosphere. We went at a time when the temple was nearly empty, with only a few devotees. The Bhattars explain each aspect of the deities and the temple in detail. Definitely going again to spend a day or two there.

It's the 6th Divyadesam of Lord Vishnu and oldest temple where Vishu is in standing position. Very tall walls on 3 stages which are naturally covered. Very peaceful place to get blessings. Where alwars sung literature poems. Place where markandeyan and thayar did meditation on Vishnu perumal.

Loved it. The garden around the temple was awesome. There are too many peacocks. The best thing about this temple is that, it will be crowd free. And so peaceful. Don't forget to visit the swastik behind the temple,it's a historical monument.

One of a Divya Desams for Vaishnavets. Very old temple dated back to 2000 years. Badly in need of renovation work. However, the temple is kept clean.

Very old temple which everyone can visit without any long queues. The explanation given during archanai was very good. No entry ticket for the people. For car entry ₹ 40.

Loved the temple. Felt divinity. Only felt sad looking at the main gopuram ruined and please urge TN government to look into this. Temple in itself is marvelous.

Such pleasant place with large space, very positive vibe, less crowded and lots of peacocks! Only thing to be improved is the maintenance inside the main temple. Especially during the rainy season. But a must visit historic place blended with nature.

Just after entering Thiruvellarai your eyes could catch a half-constructed Gopuram standing still depicting the ancient times. But you should also note the left side of the temple's entrance. There you could find Ramanujar's sannidhi. It has been said that saint Ramanujar resided here for a few years before shifting to Sri Rangam. Probably this is the only place where the Ramanujar's sannidhi is outside the temple's boundary.

Shri Pundarekaksha Perumal (Shri Kamalakkannan) temple is in Thiruvellarai about 20 kms from Trichy, in Thuraiyur road. One of the Divyadesams. Grand unfinished (or damaged) entrance Gopuram. Larga pragarams. Perumal in the sanctum in majestic standing posture. The Srichakra on the right hand is slightly slanting (unique here). Moolavar is surrounded by Suryan, Chandran Adisheshan in human form. Unique twin entrance to the sanctum with steps from backside - alternatively used during Uthrayanam and Dakshnayanam. Seperate beutiful sannidhi for Shri Pankajavalli Thaayaar. Seperate small sannidhis for Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and Shri Anjineya, and Sri Chakkarathazhvar. Lots of peacocks roaming around.

Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple or Thiruvellarai is situated in Tamil Nadu near Tiruchirapalli (Trichy). It is located at a distance of 27 km from Trichy, en route to Turaiyur. This place has Sri Pundarikasha Perumal Temple, one of the 108 Divya desams. Here Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Pundarikakshan and his consort Lakshmi as Pankajavalli. Vellarai means white rock. Since, this sthalam is situated 100 feet high in the top of the small mountain, which is white in colour, this sthalam is called “Thiru Vellarai”. Here a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, Pundarikan, established a garden here and worshipped the Lord with Tulsi leaves grown here. The Lord pleased with his worship gave darshan to him and came to be known as Pundarikaksham. As per Hindu legend, when Sibi Chakravarthi stayed there with his warriors, a white boar crossed his path. He chased it and the boar hid inside a hole. Markandeya, a sage, was doing penance there and the king narrated the incident to him. The sage asked the king to fill the hole with milk. While doing so, Hindu god Vishnu appeared before them. The sage asked the king to bring 3700 Vaishnavites from the north and build a temple on the site for Vishnu. As requested, the king took 3700 Vaishnavites and started building the temple. While doing so, one of the Vaishnavites was killed in transit and the king was concerned by the accident. Vishnu appeared incognito as Pundarikakshan, a Vaishnavite, and requested to be counted among the 3700.

It is a very old perumal temple not to be missed. Got the blessings of lord pundarikatsha perumal and thayaar (mother ). The main tower is purposely complete due to historical reason. The temple is just 30min drive from Sri rangam enough car parking and the poojaris (priests)are very humble and explain about the temple. They do archana in Tamil without telling explicitly which is very rare and good.

It seems this place/temple is worshipped in Sibi Chakravarty time, means it before Treata Yuga or before Lord Srirama. Lakhs of years of history. Main deity is God Vishnu & Godess Pankajavalli. Apart from it there is a Anjaneya temple n it seems every 12 years the eyes of the Deity will grow. Offer few bucks/dakshina to the priest, he will explain everything. I was spell bound , it is one of the 108 Divya Desams. Once you enter into the temple take a left and climb up, you get a beautiful view. Do visit the rock cut cave on the way. The temple entrance is majestic. A Vaisnava Temple on banks of Cauvery. Utharayana & Dakshinayana Entrances separate for once in 6 months.

Very beautiful architecture old temples which one must visit in his life time to get blessings of all 3 God's,in a Singletary Adiranga,Madhyaranga and Anthyaranga.

Very nice old temple. It's the 6th in Divya dharsinams. Huge building but maintenance needs to be improved. This was built even before Srirangam and tirupati.

Such a Holistic place! Lord Vishnu blessing us. This temple is one of the oldest temples which was constructed by a king at the time of Cholas and half left the sculptures. And near the temple, we can see a Swastik shaped natural spring(well) filled with holistic water.

The king who build this if have completed this gopuram fully then height wise and breath wise this gopuram would have challenged the present Srirangam temple. Such a huge temple compounds which is considered older than other perumal temples. I have never seen such an old type of active pushkarni with fishes swimming in it. Nice big and large statues. Totally awesome temple compounds

Such a beautiful and nice temple. Fort pola walls and avlo azhaga irukum surroundings. Peacocks monkeys nu nalla irukum . Behind the temple , swasthik well iruku. Everyone must visit . Powerful temple with history.

My favourite destination thiruvallarai ... definitely must visit place.. clean and neat atmosphere... No need to wait in queue comparing to sri rangam... wonderful dharshan we had.. lot space for parking.. everything is good

It's one of 108 Divyadesams. You get to you see one of the biggest Vishnu statue (Pundarikaksha Perumal) in the standing position. There's little to no crowd round the year, and one can visit on any day with no worries of getting stuck in a queue. A wonderful temple with no awareness has led to a very less footfall. The temple needs to be maintained and preserved in a good condition, which is difficult considering the very little money that the temple receives.

Very peaceful temple... any worry that you have in your mind will disappear once you enter this place.... there are lots of trees and the atmosphere is so good... a must visit temple. Very old temple. Unique.

Nature preserved. Very old temple. Good to spend morning time with god.

Very divine place. A unique temple with lot of history and culture associated with it. Probably the most underrated temple I would say. This is the first temple for Lord Perumal. They’re struggling to maintain the temple due to the lack of funds. The positive vibe you get here can’t be explained. Should visit once at least.

I loved this temple heartedly because of peaceful dharshan and kindness priest working in this temple. They provided prasadham which fulfill our heart and as well as stomach😌... It was a biggest historical temple in thiruvallarai...near kanchipuram

Oldest temple then Srirangam and Tirupati. Most Beauty temple with wide area

Very beautiful temple. Temple is maintained well. We went on weekday , not much crowd.Divine darshan.30 mins travel from Trichy city.must visit temple. They have well maintained temple garden, cave where mahalakshmi did dhavam. And good walking area around the temple. Can spend 1-2 hours here. Also, if we go around the place we can find swastik well also.

The 04th Divya Desam out of 108 Temples. Located inside Thiruchirappalli District.17kms from Chathiram bus stand.A 30 mins drive from Srirangam temple. One of the oldest temple of this region.

Very old temple in 108 divyadesam. Very powerful god for all remedies. In life time one should visit & pray this god.

The temple where you don't want to wait and worship relaxly first construction of 108 dhiya desam