Thiru Koodalur (Aduthuraip Perumal Koil)

Thirukkoodalur also known as AduthuRai Perumal Koil, is in Tanjore district on the way from Thiruvaiyar to Kumbakonam. This divyadesam located in a small village is also known as Sangama Kshetram. To distinctly identify it from Madurai which is also known as Kudal, some people refer to it as the Northern Koodalur and refer to Madurai as the Southern Koodalur. It is said that Nandaka Rishi came with countless devas and worshipped here and therefore it came to be called Koodalur.

The sthala puranam about this temple is present in Brahmanda Purana, Padma Purana and other puranas. They state that when Sriman Narayana took the Varaha avatar, this was the place where he bore into the Earth. This is also refered to by Thirumangai Azhvar in his mangalasasanam of this kshetram. It is said that Narayana entered the earth here and came out at Srimushnam.

It is in this sthala that Durvasa Maharishi committed a sin against the king Ambarisa and suffered. The incident was to show that no one should sin against His bhAgavatas. Amabrisa went on to build a temple here for Narayana and after worshipping Him for a long time here attained moksha. That temple built by Ambarisa no longer exists here.

One time when a flood came in the Kaveri river, it destroyed the temple completely and made it into a mud hill (this mud hill exists from the current temple at a distance of about 2 km and is known as "Perumal Pottal"). However, while the temple got destroyed, the idols of Perumal, Thayar and Utsavar only got swept away and stayed on one of the banks. They were found and taken by fishermen and were kept in their village.

After the floods were over, Narayana appeared in the dream of the queen of the land, Mangammal, and asked that she build a temple for Him with the idols kept by the fishermen. She came to the area and built a temple where she saw a great light shine. This is the current location of the temple, in the village of Aduthurai. Only the Utsavar and Thayar were brought here from the fishermen's village. The Mulavar from them is kept in a temple in the nearby town of Vazhundur.

The present Mulavar in the temple is known as Vaiyankattha Perumal or JagatRakshakan and the Utsavar has the same names. The Mulavar faces the east direction. The Thayar is known as Padmasini and Pushpavalli. The sacred waters of the divyadesam are Chakra Theertham, Indra Theertham and Kaveri. The vimana is Suddhasthava Vimana and the Lord here was pratyaksham to Ambarisa, Nandaka Rishi and Kaveri. The temple has been sung by Thirumangai Azhvar through ten pasurams.