Thirucherai

This is the 12th divyadEsam among the 108 divyadEsams or vishnu temples.

This sthalam is located on the way from kudavasal to nachiyarkoil. The main deity is sAranAtha perumAL. His consort, thAyAr is given the name sAranAyaki. Thi vimAnam is sAra vimAnam and pushkarani or holy tank is called as sAra pushkaraNi.

When we approach the temple, the majestic tank (there was some water in the tank :)) welcomes us all. Opposite to the tank, there lies the huge gOpuram or main tower of the temple. Crossing that gopuram, we find a dvijasthambam and a large prakAram or corridor, through which we can walk around the temple. We enter into the main mandapam and reach the place where Maha Vishnu resides.

In the sanctum sanctorum, the lord is in a standing posture (nindra thirukkOlam) with 4 hands. Conch and chakra in the upper two hands and the lower right hand offering protection (abhayam) and the lower left hand offering boons (varam). In his chest, lives goddess lakshmi. The utsava moorthi has two consorts - neela devi and bhoomi devi. Sri devi resides in his chest.

Apart from them, to the right side of the lord, sage mArkaNdEyA is seated, seeking salvation. River Kaveri seated to the left of the lord. There is also an idol of Santhana krishna (krishna as a small child) in the sannidhi.

There is a separate sannidhi for Lord Narasimha. Here he is blessing everyone along with goddess Lakshmi and gets name as Lakshmi Nrusimhar.

Coming out of the mandapam, we take a right turn to reach the thAyar sannidhi. sAranAyaki thAyAr, seated on a lotus is welcoming all her visitors with a nice smile. Praying to her, we move around the inner corridor and complete a round at the thAyar sannidhi and come out to the outer corridor. After completing the round in the outer big corridor, we offer our namaskArams to the lord and the goddess at the dvijasthambam seeking their blessings.