Venkatachalapathy Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Tuticorin Airport in Thoothukkudi district is the nearest airport to Tirunelveli city, 22 km east of the city.

• By train

  Tirunelveli Junction is a major station in the Madurai division of Southern Railway.

• By road

  The temple is 10 km from Tirunelveli city, and National Highways 44 and 82 pass through the city. The main bus stand, Dr MGR Bus Stand, is in Veinthaankulam.

Why devotees come here

Venkatachalapathy Temple is a Vishnu temple in Krishnapuram village, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. It is a storehouse of Nayak-period architecture, with a five-tiered gateway tower 110 ft tall.

Venkatachalapathy Temple is dedicated to Vishnu, worshipped here as Venkatachalapathy. It follows the traditions of the Thenkalai sect of Vaishnavism. The image in the sanctum is a granite standing figure, 4 ft tall, with four arms.

The village was first named Thiruvenkatapuram. Originally the temple was administered as a subtemple of the Ramaswamy temple of Tirunelveli. Inscriptions name Krishnappa Nayak as the builder. The village took the name Krishnapuram in his rule. He was the son of Viswanatha Nayak, founder of the Madurai Nayak dynasty. Deivachillayar, the son-in-law of a minister of Viswanatha, played a key role in the construction.

The temple is built in the Dravidian style, inside a walled precinct of about 1.8 acres enclosed by granite walls. The Vijayanagar and Nayak kings commissioned its pillared halls and major shrines in the 16th century. Rare sculptures from the Nayak period are kept in the Veerappa Nayak Mandap.

Festivals

• Margazhi (December to January)Vaikunta Ekadasi

  A ten-day festival and the temple's major annual festival, celebrated along with the other common Vaishnavite festivals.

Tips for your visit

• The Sorga vasal opens only during the ten-day Vaikunta Ekadasi festival in Margazhi, so plan your visit for then.
• The eleven-day Brahmotsavam is not celebrated in modern times, so do not plan a visit around it.

Questions people ask