Koodal Azhagar temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. Located in the heart of the temple town of Madurai, this temple dates back to the Sangam era. There are references to this temple found in the Paripadal and Silappadikaram. The presiding deity was praised and worshipped by the Sangam tamil Poets as the president and guardian deity of the Sangam and they called him by the name “Thuvarikoman” (the King who ruled over from Dwaraka) and Koodal Azhagar. Koodal means assembly of Poets and scholars.
The temple is built across 3 levels. The Lord is seen in a seated posture in the first level, in a standing posture in the second level, and in a reclining or sayana posture in the third level. Legend goes that Vishnuchittha or Periyazhwar was invited to the Pandya kingdom to settle religious disputes among other sects. He then established the supremacy of Lord Vishnu and a purse of gold appeared from above, which signified divine acceptance. He then blessed the Lord with a long life of thousands of years by expressing his wishes in the form of twelve verses in tamil known as Thirupallandu.
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