Vedanarayana Temple or Matsya Narayana Temple is a

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 ...

temple in

Nagalapuram Nagalapuram is a Mandal Headquarter in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Nagalapuram mandal in Srikalahasti revenue division. This town is home to Vedanarayana Temple, where the presidin ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

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 ...

. It is a

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 ...

temple is dedicated to

Lord 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 ...

in the form of

Matsya Matsya ( sa, मत्स्य, lit. ''fish'') is the fish avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Often described as the first of Vishnu's ten primary avatars, Matsya is described to have rescued the first man, Manu, from a great deluge. Matsya ...

, the fish avatar, who is referred to as Matsya Narayana or Veda Narayana. This is one of the few temples in India where Lord Vishnu is depicted in Matsya avatar, the first incarnation of the

Dashavatara The Dashavatara ( sa, दशावतार, ) are the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, a principal Hindus, Hindu god. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word ''Dashavatara'' derives from , meaning " ...

, Lord Vishnu's 10 main incarnations.

Administration

The temple is being administered by

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...

Significance

The Temple is famous for Surya Pooja Utsavam, considered as an astronomical marvel. During this festival the sunrays will directly fall on the presiding deity Vedanarayaana in the

Garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ''M ...

for three days of a year. The Sunrays travel a distance of 360 feet starting from Temple Tower(Goupuram) towards Garbha griha in the evening. On first day the rays will stop at foot of the Deity, second day on Navel and third day on Crown.

Festivals

Surya Pooja Utsavam is one of the important festivals in the temple during which the rays of Sun directly fall on to the presiding deity in

which is facing west during evening before sunset.

References

{{Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh , state=collapsed Hindu temples in Chittoor district Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams

Administration

Significance

Festivals

See also

References