Vedanarayana Temple or Matsya Narayana Temple is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple in Nagalapuram,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

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, and the god of preservation (sattva). Vish ...

in the form of

Matsya Matsya () is the fish avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Often described as the first of Vishnu's Dashavatara, ten primary avatars, Matsya is described to have rescued the first man, Manu (Hinduism), Manu, from a great deluge. Matsya may be dep ...

, 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 (, ) 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 "ten", and , roughly equi ...

, Lord Vishnu's 10 main incarnations.

Administration

The temple is being administered by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

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'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

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 Temples dedicated to avatars of Vishnu

Administration

Significance

Festivals

See also

References