Thiruvali–Thirunagari Divya Desam (Azhagiya Singar and Vedarajan Temples)

The exact date of the temples is not established. Wikipedia records that they are traditionally believed to have been built by the Cholas, with later additions such as pillared halls and major shrines attributed to the Vijayanagara and Thanjavur Nayak rulers in the 16th century. Since both temples are sung in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the shrines were already revered in the period of the Alvars, which Wikipedia places between roughly the 6th and 9th centuries CE. They are also mentioned in the later work 108 Tirupathi Anthathi by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar.

Accounts differ on exactly where Thirumangai Alvar was born. Wikipedia's article on the Vedarajan temple calls Thirunagari his birthplace, while a Daily Thanthi feature on the Thirunangur festival names Thirukkuraiyalur, a village in the same area. The Daily Thanthi account also describes how a Chola king made him chieftain of Mangaimadam before the events that led to his conversion.

In temple tradition the Vedarajan shrine also has an earlier legend: Dinamalar describes how Kardama Prajapati, a son of Brahma, performed penance here seeking liberation, and is believed to have been reborn in later ages until he became the Alvar in the Kali Yuga.

Architecture and sacred features

The Thirunagari temple is the larger of the two. According to Wikipedia it covers about two acres within high granite walls and is entered through a seven-tiered rajagopuram about 38 m tall. The sanctum is raised, and its vimana, which Dinamalar calls the Ashtakshara Vimanam, carries stucco images including the Dashavatara, Lakshmi Narasimha and Lakshmi Narayana. Thirumangai Alvar has a separate north-facing shrine in the same enclosure; Dinamalar notes that it has its own flagstaff, so the temple has two, and that the Alvar is shown holding a spear said to have been given to him by Thirugnanasambandar. Dinamalar describes the presiding deity Vedarajan as seated and facing west.

The Thiruvali temple is a smaller, west-facing shrine within a granite-walled enclosure of about half an acre, per Wikipedia. The granite image of Azhagiya Singar is seated with Lakshmi on his right lap. A south-facing shrine of Thirumangai Alvar stands outside the walls, opposite the Garuda mandapam, and the flagstaff and a four-pillared hall lie on the axis outside the compound wall.