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Tiruvelukkai located in Kanchipuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the ''Divya Prabandha'', the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 ''Divyadesam'' dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Azhagiya Singar and his consort Lakshmi as Amruthavalli. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallavas of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagar kings. The temple has three inscriptions on its walls, two dating from the period of Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE) and one to that of Rajadhiraja Chola (1018-54 CE). A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all the shrines and two bodies of water. There is a four-tiered ''rajagopuram'', the temple's gateway tower, in the temple. Azhagiya Singar is believed to have appeared to slay Hiranya, the demon king. Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the Krishna Janmasthami festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of ''Aavani'' (August–September), being the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. ==Legend== ''Vel'' means wish and ''irukkai'' means residence. Tiruvelukkai, thus is a derivation of the terms meaning the place where Vishnu resided happily. 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.〔R. 2001, p. 567-8〕 As per Hindu legend, once there was an argument between Saraswathi, the consort of Brahma and Lakshmi on superiority. They went to Indra, the king of celestial deities. Indra judged Lakshmi as superior and not satisfied with his argument, Saraswathi went to her husband, Brahma. He also chose Lakshmi to be the superior one. Saraswathi was unhappy with the decision and decided to stay away from Brahma. Brahma did a severe penance praying to Vishnu and did an ''Aswametha Yagna''. Saraswathi was still angry that the ''yagna'', which usually is done along with consorts was done alone by Brahma. She tried to disrupt the penance in various ways, but Vishnu interfered in all her attempts. After all the demons were killed by Vishnu, who were sent by Saraswati to destroy the ''yagna''(penance) done by Brahma, she sent Kapalika, a demon. Lord Vishnu took the form of Narhari to kill the demon.〔MS 1993, pp. 79-81〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tiruvelukkai」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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