Aravindalochanar Perumal Temple, in Tholavillimangalam in Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to Aravindalochana Perumal with consort Karunthadanganni Nachiyar. It is also known as Thirutholaivillimangalam, Irattai Tirupati temple.
The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the Vishnu shrines glorified by the Alvar poet-saints in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, and it is also one of the Nava Tirupati, the nine Tirupatis strung along the banks of the Tamiraparani river near Srivaikuntam. Within the Nava Tirupati group it is regarded as the sthalam associated with the planet Ketu. Local tradition, corroborated by the temple's Wikipedia article (which covers this shrine jointly with the adjacent Devapiran temple under the title Irattai Thiruppathy), holds that the sage Suprabha, styled Athreya Suprabha in some other sources (likely reflecting his gotra rather than a naming discrepancy), came.
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
Published sources do not give a single clean daily window for this temple; see the notes below for what is documented.
Published darshan hours vary considerably between sources (ranges from as early as 6 AM to as late as 8 PM have been cited), and the temple is in a remote rural area where the archaka's presence is not guaranteed at all hours. A Wikipedia article for the temple was located during renewed research; it gives a partial daily pooja schedule (see poojas field) but does not state public darshan opening and closing hours, so the conflict among travel sources remains unresolved. Visitors are advised to confirm timing with the temple priest before travelling.
Poojas and daily rituals
Daily rituals recorded include Kalasanthi around 8 AM, Uchikalam around 12 PM and Sayarakshai around 6 PM, per the temple's Wikipedia article; a fourth kalam and precise public darshan opening and closing hours are not stated there.
Festivals and special-day timings
Regular darshan hours are usually extended, or set aside entirely, on these dates.
| Festival | Period | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Vaikunta Ekadasi | Tamil month of Margazhi (December to January) | A ten day festival considered the most important observance at the temple, part of the shared Nava Tirupati festival calendar. |
| Garuda Sevai | Tamil month of Vaikasi (May to June), around Nammalvar's birth star celebrations | Festival deities from all nine Nava Tirupati temples are brought together in procession on the Garuda vahana. |
History and architecture
Architecture
Dravidian style temple enclosed by a granite wall; unusually has no rajagopuram, with a flat gateway instead, and the sanctum shows Perumal in both standing (nindra) and seated (amarndha) postures
History
Local tradition, corroborated by the temple's Wikipedia article (which covers this shrine jointly with the adjacent Devapiran temple under the title Irattai Thiruppathy), holds that the sage Suprabha, styled Athreya Suprabha in some other sources (likely reflecting his gotra rather than a naming discrepancy), came to this location searching for land for a yagna and ploughed up a balance scale and a bow, which turned into a cursed human couple upon being touched; the curse, imposed by Kubera, is said to have ended through contact with the sage, and the discovery of the balance (tolai) and bow (vil) is why the place came to be called Tholaivillimangalam. Separately, tradition holds that Vishnu, pleased with the sage's devotion in offering him lotus flowers every day without fail, granted him darshan in a standing form adorned with lotuses, which is how the deity came to be called Aravindalochanar (lotus eyed). The temple stands about 100 yards from the Devapiran temple, and together the two are known as Irattai Tirupati, twin Tirupatis, sometimes counted as a single Divya Desam.
Planning your visit
How to reach
About 22 km from Tirunelveli. The village is not on a direct road route; pilgrims typically reach it by a roughly 3 km walk along canal banks from Mangalakurichi, or by crossing the Tamiraparani river from Alwarthirunagari.
Where this information comes from
Confidence: Medium. A Wikipedia article for this temple was located during renewed research (it covers the shrine jointly with the adjacent Devapiran temple), resolving the built-era gap with inscription-dated Pandya grants spanning 1190 to 1345 CE and confirming the founding sage's name as Suprabha, consistent with rather than contradicting the fuller 'Athreya Suprabha' form used elsewhere. Public darshan opening and closing hours still could not be confirmed from an authoritative source and continue to conflict sharply across secondary travel sources, so the timings field remains blank.