Azhagia Nambirayar temple, Thirukurungudi, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu

அழகிய நம்பிராயர் -குறுங்குடிவல்லி நாச்சியார் திருக்கோயில், திருக்குறுங்குடி Azhakia Nambirayar- Kunungudivalli Nachiyar Temple , Thirukkurungudi Thhe temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Azhakia Nambirayar and his consort Lakshmi as Thirukurungudivalli Nachiyar. The temple is locally referred as Dakshina Vaikuntam, the holy abode of Lord Vishnu. The temple has five prakarams, closed precincts of a temple and all the shrines are enclosed in the first two enclosures. The temple occupies around 7.5 ha (18.5 acres). There are a number of halls, that have sculpted pillars from the Nayak period.There is a festival hall in the second precinct in the temple facing South that has sculpted pillars indicating various Hindu legends. The most notable of them being a legend of Mahabharata where Bhima attacks a lion legged person with his club. The composite columns of Virabhadra holding sword and horn are found be additions of the Vijayanayagara kings during the early 1500s. In Tamil language the word Nambi means personification of all virtuous and righteous qualities blended with beauty and grace. There are five Nambis in this Kshetram. They are Ninra Nambi (Standing posture), Irundha Nambi (Sitting posture), Kidandha Nambi (Sleeping posture), Thiruparkadal Nambi and Thirumalai Nambi. Thiruparkadal Nambi Temple is located near to the River Nambiyaru, one km from the main temple. Thirumalai Nambi Temple is on the hills (Mahendragiri Mountain) 8 km from the main temple.