Thirukkurungudi is a town which is located in Tirunelveli district,

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 ...

, South India. Thirukkurungudi is part of

Nanguneri Nanguneri is a panchayat town in Tirunelveli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nanguneri is a Taluk Headquarters in the District of Tirunelveli situated at a distance of from the headquarters of the District. Vanamamalai Perumal te ...

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

and is part of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly constituency of Nanguneri. At the foothills of the Western Ghats and 40 km to the North of

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

and about 120 km from

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

the capital city of Kerala, Thirukkurungudi is a village with history dating back more than 1500 years. Village life revolves around agriculture and the Nambi Rayar temple. It is one of the 108

Divya Desams A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnavism, Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 10 ...

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 that are sacred for the

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 ...

s. Rice was the major crop until 15 years ago as there was plenty of rainfall and the River Nambi fed the irrigation channels for almost 9 months a year. With advancement in technology to tap ground water and rain becoming scarce, plantains have become a major crop. Almost every household works on something related to agriculture, either directly or through the Nambi Rayar temple. The tank in Thirukkurungudi gets water from Western Ghats which is stored and fed for agriculture through five canals. The pond is a biodiversity hotspot supporting various forms of life from fish, birds, insects, plants, toads and an occasional python. Thirukkurungudi is approachable by road. Distance is 45 km from Tirunelveli, 15 km from Nanguneri (Vanamamalai) and 10 km northwest of Valliyoor. The travel from thirukkurungudi to the malai nambi kovil is by through Jeep and also by walk so for Jeep the charge in this covid situation is 1500 per Jeep (5persons)

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Thirukkurungudi had a population of 8871. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Thirukkurungudi has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 66%. In Thirukkurungudi, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Landmarks

There are five Nambis in the temple. They are Ninra Nambi (Standing posture), Irundha Nambi (Sitting posture), Kidandha Nambi (Sleeping posture), Thiruparkadal Nambi and Thirumalai Nambi. Thiruparkadal Nambi Temple is located very near to the River Nambiyaru one km from the main temple. Thirumalai Nambi Temple is on the hills (Mahendragiri Mountain) 8 km from the main temple. In Tamil language the word "nambi" means personification of all virtuous and righteous qualities blended with beauty and grace. Vaishnava Nambi and Thirukkurungudivalli Nachiar temple. Nambi Rayar temple is one of the "108 Divyadesams" of the Sri Vaishnavas. The temple is 2300 years old. The temple is located in the centre of the town flanked by four big Mada Veethis (Agraharams) and at the outer square by four broad and lengthy Ratha Veethis (Car Streets). The presiding deity of this Divya Desam was sung (

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 ...

) by four Alvars, namely Thirumalisai Piran,

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 ...

Periyalvar Periyalvar (), also known as Vishnuchittar, was one of the twelve ''Alvar'' saints of South India who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. He was the foster father of Andal. Andal, also called as Kodhai, is t ...

, and Thirumangai Alvar. The temple has several unique sculptures. A horse and an elephant sculpture are composed of ladies in a single granite stone.

Malai Nambi Koil

Malai Nambi Koil is a mountain, 8 km from Thirukkurungudi village. It is a small mountain where auto, two wheelers can be hired from the foot hill. There are few steps that will take to the temple entrance. Lord Nambi with Bhoo Devi and Sri Devi are the idols in standing posture.

Mahendragiri Mountain

Mahendragiri Mountain near Thirukkurungudi has abundant medicinal herbs. This mountain is mentioned in the First Chapter of Srimad

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on ...

Ramayanam Sundara Kandam. Hanuman while going to Sri Lanka in search of Seetha set his feet here and then travelled by sky route. There are many Siddha Purushas living in this mountain observing penance.

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

is in Mahendragiri Hills 17 km from Thirukkurungudi.

Notable people

Thirukkurungudi is the home town of the founder,

T. V. Sundaram Iyengar Thirukkurungudi Vengaram Sundram Iyengar (22 March 1877 – 28 April 1955) was an Indian industrialist and automobile pioneer. In 1911, he founded T. V. Sundram Iyengar & Sons, a bus company which later diversified into automobile production and ...

of TVS Group.

References