Sri Kallazhagar Temple madurai

Perumal Presiding deity      :Paramaswami

Mother :     Sridevei BhudeviProcession deity :    Sundararaja Perumal, RishabadrinatharProcession Mother:     KalyanasundaravalliVinayakar:      Valampuri VinayakarHoly tree:     Jyothi tree, Sandalwood treeHoly spring :    NoopuragangaiVimanam-Tower :    SomaskandarPlace :    AlagarkoilDistrict :     Madurai
Festivals:

People worship the Alagumalayan for fertile yield in their cultivations, business development, starting new business etc. People also pray to the Lord here for seasonal rains. Majority of the devotees pray for family welfare and children.

Prayer commitments:The main commitment is offering the hair. They also offer money equal to their weight in coins and corns. Thulabaram (offering things equal to one’s weight) is other commitment. Devotees offer new clothes, Bilwa garlands, flowers, incense sticks etc. are also offered to the Lord. The Nivedhana prasad offered to the God is distributed to the visiting devotees.

The security deity of the place, Karupannaswami is all powerful. He is most respected as Pathinettampadiyan. He takes care of the welfare of his devotees.

Fort: The farmers use to build a small Fort in their lands before the harvest, store the grains and offer to Lord Alagar.

Dosa: As Panchamirtham in Palni and Laddu in Tirupathi, in the Kallazhagar temple, Dosa is very famous. The grains donated to the temple are ground and dosas made and offered to the visitors here.

Noopura Ganga or Silambaru: This is a perennial river flowing from the feet of Rakkayee Amman from a cave in the temple.

The presiding deity is believed to have been installed by divine powers and not by humans. The Lord is worshipped by Saptharishis (seven Rishis), seven divine angels, Brahmma and Vishvaksenar. This Divyadesam is praised by the Alwars in their hyms. The Andal in the temple is in a sitting position here against the usual standing appearance in other temples. Lord Perumal is in a standing position holding Conch, Sudharsana Wheel. Club. Bow and the Sword, the five weapons known as Panchayutha.. The lamp in the temple is kept burning for ever.

Alagar Koil is 20 Kms from Madurai and 60 from Dindigul. Temple managed lodging (Devasthanam Chatram) is available at charges ranging from Rs. 100 to Rs. 350. Those coming with family can stay in lodges available in Madurai, .charges ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 800.

Adequate bus facilities are available from Madurai to Alagarkoil. Those needing more information may contact The Executive Officer or the Commissioner, Kallazhagar Koil, Thirumalirunjolai, Alagarkoil-625 301, Madurai district. Telephone 0452 – 2470228 and 2470229.

10 day Chithirai festival during April-May, 13 day Adi festival during July-August, Thalai Aruvi festival in Iypasi – October-November, 5 day Panguni Uthiram during March-April are important festivals in the temple. Other festivals are Vaikunda Ekadasi, Krishna Jayanthi,Deepavali, Pongal and Tamil and English New Year days in the year. There will be some festival each month. The crowd would be huge during week ends.

The temple is praised in the hymns of Periazhwar, Andal, Peyazhwar, Thirumangaiazhwar, Budhathazhwar and Nammalwar.

History:

Emadharmaraja, the God of Death had a curse. To relieve himself from the curse. he performed penance in Vrushabagiri Hills near Alagarmalai. The Lord, in recognition of his penance appeared before him and asked him what he wanted. Ema sought the Grace of Lord that he (Ema) should perform pujas to him atleast one time a day which was granted. Based on this story, it is believed that the Night Puja in the temple is performed by Ema himself. The Vimanam of the temple was constructed by the divine builder Viswakarma. There are records of historical evidence that the Buddhists, Jains and Muslims also worshipped in this temple. The pujas in the temple are performed without Saivite, Vaaishnavite discriminations.