Lakshmi Narasimha / Vayalali Manavalan Temple, Thiruvali-Thirunagari
Thiruvaali Thirunagari
Photo: Nani.2018 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Birthplace of Thirumangai Alvar; a twin-temple Divya Desam.
Sthala Purāṇam
Thiruvaali-Thirunagari is a pair of linked Divya Desam shrines near Sirkazhi and is celebrated above all as the birthplace of Thirumangai Alvar. At Thiruvali the presiding deity is Lakshmi Narasimha (Alagiyasingar) with his consort Amirthagatavalli, while at Thirunagari, a few kilometres away, the Lord is Vedarajan, also revered as Vayalali Manavalan, with his consort Amirthavalli. The name Thirunagari is traced to Aalingapuri: here Lord Narayana found the Goddess seated in a lotus on the sacred pushkarini and embraced (alingana) her, and the place came to be called Aalingapuri and later Thirunagari. The Alvar himself was born Kaliyan (Neelan), a Chola military chieftain who, for his valour, bore the title Parakala and ruled Ali Nadu with Thirumangai as his capital. He fell in love with the devout Vaishnavi Kumudavalli, who agreed to marry him only if he became a Vishnu devotee and fed Vaishnavas every day. Unable to sustain this, he turned to highway robbery, until one day he tried to rob a divine bridal couple; finding he could not remove their jewels, he realized the bridegroom was Vishnu himself, who whispered the Ashtakshara mantra (Om Namo Narayanaya) into his ear, irrevocably transforming the robber-king into the great Alvar Thirumangai. Both shrines, where Vedarajan and Alagiyasingar are said to have granted him darshan, are richly sung by him. The vimana over the Vedarajan sanctum at Thirunagari is in the eight-part Ashtanga style, adorned with stucco figures of sages and the Dasavatara.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Lakshmi Narasimha (Thiruvali); Vayalali Manavalan (Thirunagari) with Amritagatavalli (Amritavalli) of Thiruvaali Thirunagari is glorified by:
Thiruvali and Thirunagari (near Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai district) are a twin Divya Desam that the Alvars treated as a single sacred abode, glorifying both together in their mangalasasanam. The dominant praise is by Thirumangai Alvar — himself born nearby at Thirukkuraiyalur — who sang about 41 pasurams on this pair in his Periya Thirumozhi (notably the decades in the third centum, e.g. 3.5, 3.6, 3.7). Kulasekhara Alvar also offers a verse on the Lord here. Because of the Alvar's deep personal attachment to the place (he is called the lord of Thiru Nagari), the verses are intensely devotional, often in the voice of a heroine pining for the beautiful Lord of Thiruvali's chariot-filled streets. The presiding deities are Lakshmi Narasimha (Thiruvali) and Vedarajan/Vayalali Manavalan (Thirunagari).
தாராய தண்டுளவ வண்டுழுத வரைமார்பன், போரானைக் கொம்பொசித்த புட்பாக னென்னம்மான், தேராரும் நெடுவீதித் திருவாலி நகராளும், காராயன் என்னுடைய கனவளையும் கவர்வானோ.
thArAya thaN thuLava vaNduzhudha varai mArban / pOrAnaik kombosiththa putpAgan en ammAn / thErArum nedu vIdhith thiruvAli nagarALum / kArAyan ennudaiya kanavaLaiyum kavarvAnO
The Lord whose mountain-like chest is adorned with cool, honey-laden tulasi garlands churned by bees; the rider of Garuda who in battle broke the tusk of the war-elephant (Kuvalayapida); my Lord, the dark-hued cowherd who eternally rules Thiruvali town with its long streets thronged by chariots — will he now also rob me of my golden bangles (slipping from my wasting wrists as I pine for him)?
Tamil text & meaning sourced from divyaprabandham.koyil.org and other Śrī Vaiṣṇava authorities — please cross-check the linked source for the canonical reading.
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