P ARIPEX -INDIANJOURNALOFRESEARCH Krishna Narayana i of the mainly entrance walls Sri Structure this forms. forms and before ittookplace.Yet,notcontendedwiththisdarshan,Devas Avatar. destroy begged for in Lord Meantime, should afraid discussion arrogance sought Fuelled History desams Thirukovil is Thirukoshtiyur, spot. place Brahma, approached in the Kritha Thirukoshtiyur, Significance Pandyas). comes one Vaishnavites. f Sivaganga road)onthewaytoSivaganga,TamilNadu.Itis9km Thirukoshtiyur Introduction n w r Mrs. R.S.Santhi o t hands the known w e three m Sowmya discussion. temple aura r place, of w sages p ABSTRACT Perumal.

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a procession Narayana = resting e Brahmma, (Vaikunda ( Perumal. separate Prarthana and Mamagal It enter D p Lord e from , in Kaidaba, (Perumal and for separate Nardana blend (means sliding, the Soumya dancing Soumya o

e Kulama comes similar with On day a demon is s v p three tower lamp, t a e been coin. 21 u their Tulsi l and one first and and had t o r has the the the for a on e k a of l ) a s , PARIPEX - INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH Volume-7 | Issue-2 | February-2018 | PRINT ISSN No - 2250-1991 ground floor there is a beautifully carved statue of dancing Krishna 6. Dayalan Early Temples of TamilNadu ,NewDelhi, 1992, P.39 7. Interview with,Poominathan, Priest,SowmiyaNarayanaperumal Temple, with Rukmani and Satyabhama. There are many idols of Azhwars Thirukostiyur, Dated on 15th December 2017. (Vaishnavite saints) in this prakaram. Turning left, climbing a few 8. Muthurajan,.,K,.,Bhakthi Baravasamutum Thiruthalangal, (Tamil), Chennai, 2005, steps one would reach the Sowmya Narayana Perumal's sanctum. p.115. 9. Sankaranarayana Rao,A.U.South Indian Tourist Guide,Vasan publications, 2011, The Moolavar ( the main deity) is Vishnu in Anantha Sayanam p.150. known as Ugramellanaiyan and along with him are Boodevi and 10. Field Study Dated On 9th December 2017. Sreedevi. The Utsavar is Sowmaya Narayana Perumal with his 11. Muthuramalingam M., Daivega Thiruthalangal, (Tamil), Viruthunagar, 2007, consorts and there are also idols of dancing Krishna, p.192. Chakrathazhwar, Ramanujar and Nambigal. On the ground floor is the shrine of the Thayar , known here as Thirumamagal . From the Thayar sannidhi there are a fleet of steps which takes one to the top of the Vimanam .A trip up the vimanam is adventurous , scary and cannot be accessed without the help of a guide as the maze like formation may make one feel dis -oriented. The width of the narrow rock- cut staircase is just about 21/2 feet. Lack of air, the dark interiors , frequent twist and turns in the steep staircase without railings does create panic. At times one has to bend double as the ceiling is too low.

On the 2nd floor is the sannidhi of the Upendra Narayana with his consorts and here the Lord is in a standing position . There are beautiful murals on the walls of this temple and it is believed to be one thousand years old . Above this sanctum is another sannidhi of Paravasudevan with his consorts (All different names of Vishnu) . From the terrace of the Vimanam we could see the house of Sri Tirukoshtiyur Nambigal who was the Guru of Ramanujana, God's devotee and a great Vaishnava saint. It is believed that Ramanujam gave the Mantropadesham of Om Namo Narayana to all his disciples from this place. It is also said that from the top of the vimanam one could also watch the Meenakshi Kovil's tower at Madurai which is 70 Kms. away.

Outside, when we circumambulate there are shrines for Emperumanar ,Chakrathazhwar, Nambigal, all Vaishnava saints.Facing the west we could see two huge idols of Narasimha Moorthy fighting Hiranya Kashipu and tearing him by putting him on his lap ( photos included). The Vimanam is ashtanga vimanam. Similar Vimanams are in Madurai , Koodal azhagar temple and other one in Chengalpet near Chennai. .

The legend is that this was the place of Kadamba Maharshi's ashram and he was being tormented by Hiranya Kashipu.To find a solution to this, all the rishis and devas assembled in Goshti ( group ) and hence this place came to be known as Tiru Koshtiyur. Here only the Prahlada charithram and slaying of Hirnyakashipu was planned. It is also believed that Vishnu gave the Anantha sayana darshanam to Lord Indra here and the Sowmaya Narayana Perumal who is also known as Madhavan was given to Kadamba Maharishi by Lord Indra.

Mahamaga well: While Emperor Pururupa was carrying out renovation of this temple, the great Mahamaga festival of Kumbakonam also coincided. The emperor wished to have Perumal darshan in this place. Responding to his prayer, Holy Ganga sprang up in the well at the northeast side and Perumal gave darshan to the emperor from this well. The well is thus named Mahamaga Kinaru. Well- Kinaru in Tamil. This festival occurs once in 12 years when Lord grants darshan sitting on His Garuda Vahan.

The place and temple occupy a great place of importance in the history of Vaishnavism. Being one among the celebrated 108 Divya Desas of Lord Vishnu, the temple has the famous Astanga Vimana above the presiding Perumal. Just a couple of Vishnu temples have this Vimana. This is also a historical place from where great Vaishnavite Acharya the author of Visishtadvaita philosophy and social reformer Sri Ramanuja preached the holy Narayana Mantra to everyone irrespective of caste discrimination sitting on this Vimana.

Reference 1. Bhagavathi.K.,Illakithil Ur Peyarkal, (Tamil), Chennai, 1984, p.84. 2. Rajamani Kumaresan.,P.R,Thirukostiyur Thalavaralaru, (Tamil), Sivagangai 2007, p.2. 3. Thalapuranam,SivagangaiSamasthanaTemple ,Sivagangai. 2007, p.46 4. Edaiyur Sivamathi,.,Arultharum Alayam, (Tamil), 2006,Chennai,p.7. 5. Field Study, Dated On, 10th December 2017. 22 www.worldwidejournals.com