Tiruvelukkai Temple

Tiruvelukkai Temple located in Kanchipuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. The temple is among the 108 divyadesams of Sri Vaishnavas and comes under Tondai naatu divyadesams. The presiding deity here is Sri Azhagiyasingar (Naarsimhar), also called Mukunda nayakar in standing posture. Thayar is called Velukkaivalli or Amritavalli.

The legend behind the place Thiru Velukkail goes like this. When asuras (demons) became rampant and started to threaten the mankind, Lord Vishnu in his Narasimha avatar chased them away. He settled in this beautiful place out of his own wish.

The name of the sthalam itself clearly says that the Perumal is there to help us. “Vel” means wish and “Irukkai” means satying there. Since the Perumal itslef wished to stay there to help his bhakthas, this sthalam is known as “Vellukkai”. It is believed that the original image of the temple was east facing standing posture of Vishnu as he appeared for Bhrigu Maharishi and later appeared as Azhagiya Singar.