The Nava Tirupati () refers to a group of nine

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temples dedicated to

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

, located on the

Tiruchendur Tiruchendur is a municipality located in Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is home to the Arulmigu Subramaniya Swamy Temple, which is one of the Six Abodes of Murugan. Etymology Tiruchendur, a temple town like many towns in the st ...

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

route,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, on the banks of the

Thamirabarani The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats, above Papanasam in the Ambasamudram taluk. It flows through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi di ...

river. Each of these temples is classified as a

Divya Desam A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the la ...

, counted as one among the 108 temples of

, revered by the 12 poet-saints of the Tamil

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

tradition, the

Alvars The Alvars ( ta, ஆழ்வார், Āḻvār, translit-std=ISO, lit=The Immersed) were the Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused ''bhakti'' (devotion) to the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, in their songs of longing, ecstasy, and ...

Temples

The temples are revered in ''

Naalayira Divya Prabandham The Naalayira Divya Prabandham ( ta, நாலாயிரத் திவ்வியப் பிரபந்தம், lit=Four Thousand Divine Hymns, translit=Nālāyira Divya Prabandham) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed by ...

'', the 7th–9th century CE Vaishnava canon, attributed by

Nammalvar Nammalvar (Tamil: நம்மாழ்வார், lit. 'Our Alvar') was one of the twelve Alvar saints of Tamil Nadu, India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of the Alvars are compiled ...

. The following is the list of the 9 temples.

Festival

The ''Garuda Sevai Utsavam'' (a festival where a form of

, seated upon his mount

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

, is revered) in the month of Vaikasi (May - June) witnesses 9 ''Garuda Sevai,'' as well as two palanquins, one with Nammalvar of Alwarthirunagari, and the other with Madurakavi Alvar from Thirukalur. An event in which festival image idols from the Nava Tirupati shrines in the area are brought on ''Garuda Vahana'' (Garuda as a mount) to Alvarthirunagari for ''

Mangalasasanam Mangalasasanam () refers to a Vaishnava concept in Hinduism, where a devotee offers their salutations and felicitations upon God due to a profound sense of concern for the latter, and also as an exercise of forgetting their sense of self. Hymns ...

'' (singing of sacred hymns) and to for paying obeisance to Nammalvar in the morning. An idol of

is also brought here on a palanquin, and his ''pasurams'' (verses) dedicated to each of these 9 temples are recited. In the night 9 ''Garuda Sevai'' by the ''Nava Tirupati Perumals'' and the two Alvars also on procession in circumambulations. A total of 11 temple ''chapparams'' (canopied-cars) move around the outer courtyards. The

utsavar In Hinduism, utsava murti,James Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 726 utsavar or uthsavar, is a form of a ''murti'' (icon) which represents a deity. The portable utsavar is emplo ...

(idol venerated during procession) of Nammalvar is taken in a palanquin to each of the 9 temples, through the paddy fields in the area. The pasurams dedicated to each of the 9

s are chanted in the respective shrines. This is the most important of the festivals in this area, and draws thousands of visitors.

References

{{Famous Vishnu temples Hindu temples in Thoothukudi district Vishnu temples