Devadiraja Perumal Temple stands in Therazhunthur, Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to Sri Devadiraja Perumal, also called Amaruviappan, with consort Senkamalavalli Thayar. It is also known as Thiruvazhundur, Thiruvazhunthoor, Azhundur, Azhundhai, Amaruviappan Temple.
The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the Vishnu temples glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham composed by the Alvar poet saints, and is sung here by Thirumangai Alvar. It is classified as one of the five Pancha Krishnaranya Kshetrams associated with Krishna, and is said to represent Vishnu's Rakshakathvam, his role as protector of devotees. Several legends are associated with the temple: one holds that a chariot belonging to King Uparichara Vasu sank into the waters here, giving the village its name (Therazhundur, roughly "the chariot that sank"); another recounts that Brahma hid Krishna's cattle from Gokulam, and when Krishna.
Tamil Nadu carries a distinct temple identity of its own: Land of towering gopurams and living Dravidian temple traditions, from the Chola masterpieces to the great Pancha Bhoota Sthalas.
Darshan hours and daily worship
| Session | Timing (as published) |
|---|---|
| Morning | 6:30 AM to 12:00 PM |
| Evening | 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM |
One source gives slightly different hours (7:30 AM to noon and 5 PM to 8:30 PM); the temple's Google Maps Business listing gives 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM, closer to that alternate pattern than to the Wikipedia-sourced figures used above. Wikipedia is treated as the more reliable source here, so the listed hours are left unchanged, but this Maps-sourced data point is recorded for completeness; confirm current timings with the temple before visiting.
Poojas and daily rituals
Four daily rituals are observed: Ushathkalam, Kalasanthi, Sayarakshai and Ardha Jamam, each with alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradhanai (lamp waving). Senkamalavalli Thayar is said to give special darshan as Vaibhava Lakshmi on Fridays.
Festivals and special-day timings
Regular darshan hours are usually extended, or set aside entirely, on these dates.
| Festival | Period | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Vaikasi Brahmotsavam | Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-June) | The temple's major annual festival, with the festival deities taken in procession through the surrounding streets |
| Vaikunda Ekadasi | Tamil month of Margazhi (December-January) | Major Vaishnavite festival observed at the temple |
History and architecture
Architecture
Dravidian style temple with granite walls and a five-tier rajagopuram piercing concentric prakarams. The central shrine depicts Devadiraja Perumal in standing posture with cattle and sage imagery, with separate shrines for Senkamalavalli Thayar, Agastya, Narasimha, Rama, Hanuman and the Alvars. Two temple tanks, Darsa Pushkarani in front and Gajendra Pushkarani to the north, are associated with the site.
History
Several legends are associated with the temple: one holds that a chariot belonging to King Uparichara Vasu sank into the waters here, giving the village its name (Therazhundur, roughly "the chariot that sank"); another recounts that Brahma hid Krishna's cattle from Gokulam, and when Krishna created a replacement herd, a repentant Brahma asked Krishna to dwell here, where he appears as Amaruviappan with a cow and calf. A further tradition connects the deity to consoling Prahlada during Narasimha's fierce form. The temple follows the Vadakalai tradition of Pancharatra Agama worship and is administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Tamil Nadu government. The nearby mound known as Kambar Medu is traditionally linked to the birth of the Tamil poet Kambar, but a 1983-84 Archaeological Survey of India excavation there found only early Megalithic and later occupation layers, with no evidence directly connecting the site to Kambar; ASI has indicated further investigation of the claim may follow.
Planning your visit
How to reach
Therazhunthur lies about 10 to 13 km from Mayiladuthurai, reached by a road branching off the Mayiladuthurai-Kumbakonam route near Kuttalam; the village also lies between Mayavaram Junction and Kuttalam railway station on the Chennai-Thanjavur line.
Where this information comes from
Confidence: Low. Kambar's traditional birthplace association with Therazhunthur is repeated across multiple sources, and a 1983-84 ASI excavation at the nearby Kambar Medu site confirmed it found no archaeological evidence connecting the site to Kambar, sharpening rather than resolving the uncertainty; the founding era of the temple itself also rests on temple tradition rather than verified inscriptional record; and reported darshan timings still vary between sources, including the temple's Google Maps Business listing, which favors a pattern closer to the already-flagged alternate hours than to the Wikipedia-sourced figures used here