The Koodal Azhagar temple is located at the heart of the holy city of Madurai. (Not to be confused with the more famous Azhagar Kovil in AzhagarMalai, outside the city.)
The gigantic Ashtaanga (octagonal) Vimana and the ornate walls of the temple make it a very unique architectural marvel. Situated right next to commercial buildings of today, this Vishnu Sthala is more than a millennium old!
Koodal" means "coming together", and Madurai has been a city where people of different communities have lived together for centuries.
"Azhagu" in Tamil means beauty and Azhagar is how Madurai locals call Lord Vishnu who gives us Darshan in all his splendour. Thus the name for the temple.
Here, Koodal Azhagar is in the sitting posture, and the Thaayar (Lakshmi) is Goddess Madhuravalli.
Specialities of this temple:
1. Here, Lord Vishnu is seen in 3 postures-sitting (Koodal Azhagar), standing (Sooryanarayanar) and reclining (SriRanganaathar). Another temple which has Him in these 3 postures is the Vaikuntha Perumal temple in Kanchipuram.
2. This temple has a shrine for the Navagrahas! While the Navagrahas are found only in Shaiva temples, this unique Vishnu Sthalam houses them.
So, the next time you come to Madurai to see Meenakshi Sundareswarar, pay a visit to this temple also-it's very near to the Meenakshi temple!
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