Uthamar Kovil | Sri Purushothaman Perumal Temple

Sri Purushothaman Perumal Temple also known as Uthamar Kovil, Thirukkarambanoor or Bhikshandar Kovil in Uthamarkoil, a village in the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Purshottaman and his consort Lakshmi as Poornavalli.

Purushottaman is believed to have appeared to Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva, to relieve Shiva off his sins committed while cutting one of Brahma’s heads. The temple is one of the few historical temples in India where the images of Hindu trinity, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are housed in the same premises and are collectively known as Mum murthigal. This stalam is also known as Kadamba (means mixture of things) kshetram. Here, Lord Shiva and Vishnu both are in same temple so this temple is called as Kadamba Kshetram.  Lord Shiva is called as Pikshandanar.

This sthalaperumal is Purushothaman (Purushan + Uthaman). Purushan means husband and Uthaman means a person who behaves and likes his wife and doesn’t even think of other women. Sri Rama is the best example for Uthaman and he is said to be “Eaga Pathini Vridhan”. So this sthalam is named as “Uthamar Koil” and Lord Vishnu is called as “Uthaman”.