Azhagar Kovil

Azhagar Kovil (Alagar temple),is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu situated 21 km from the city of Madurai.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu visits Madurai taking the human form of Alagar to give away his sister Meenakshi in marriage to Sundareswarar. But He then storms out of the city at the perceived insult by the city, which did not throw a formal welcome in his honor.
Ever since, Meenakshi Kalyanam (Meenakshi’s Marriage) is re-enacted every year as part of the Chithirai festival in the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple. The Kallalagar (Alagar comes in a disguise of a bandit through the forest) procession also takes place to re-enact Alagar crossing Vaigai river to attend his sister’s marriage. The Mahabharata says that this temple was visited by both Yudhisthira and Arjuna. From this we can infer that the temple was built before the birth of Lord Krishna and typical proof is that you can see only 7 avatars of god in this temple.

Azhagar Kovil (Temple of Alagar) is situated on a hill, and hence, the place is also known as Alagar Hill. The statues of Lord Kallalagar can be found in seated, standing and reclining postures in this temple. Azhagar is popularly known as Soundara Rajan, meaning ‘very beautiful king’. This temple is also famous for its shrine of Karuppa Swamy, the guardian deity.The Temple of Pazhamudircholai is also situated in a hillock nearby.

The architecture of the Azhagar temple corresponds to any of those of south Indian temples, with large gopurams and pillared mandapams.The gopuram of the Karuppa swamy shrine depicts the passionate side of human relationship in the form of beautiful statues. Apart from these, it also depicts the evolution of cultural aspects of the local society including a depiction of an Englishman in British police uniforms. There is another half built gopuram on the southern side of the temple.

The Main tower entrance (Mukya Gopuram) always remains closed, with the shrine of Karupana Swami. The very closed door itself is worshipped as PatinettAm padi Karuppan(meaning, the black Lord who (sits) at the Eighteen steps). There are various legends associated with this. Only Once in a year, the door is opened and Sudarshana Chakra(Or ChakrathAlvar as the temple devotees mention), the famous Vishnu’s wheel, passes over through the open door. Not even the Lord’s Utsava Murti(deity for processions and festivals) goes through this passage. This is a centuries old practice.

The style of the buildings denote, 3rd or early 4th Century construction.

Some research scholars opine that this was earlier a Jain temple, (the somaskanda vimanamfor instance) but which however was later converted into a Vishnu temple. It is true that during archeological excavations, many Jain caves and inscriptions were found in the same hill around this temple. However, the famous Vaishnava works in Tamil, belonging to the early 4th to 6th Centuries point that to this temple as a Vishnu temple. The famous Silapadikaramtoo, that belongs to the 3rd Century AD, points out to this temple as a Vishnu temple.

The Azhagar Hills has a tropical forest cover which extend from Azhagar Kovil in the south to Natham in the north. The Tamil Nadu state forest department has been maintaining a herbal garden on the hills.The entrance to the garden is restricted to siddha research scholars. The garden is irrigated by a natural spring locally known as the devi theertham.

Source: Wikipedia

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