Koodal Azhagar Temple

dedicated to vishnu, koodal alagar temple also known as koodal azhagar temple is located in the heart of the city. the temple is an ancient temple and very close to the famous meenakshi aman temple. the temple is one of the 108 divyadesam, vishnu temples mentioned in works of the tamil azhvars (saints). in this temple, vishnu is worshipped as koodal azhagar and his consort lakshmi as maragathavalli. koodal is another name for madhurai and alagar means the beautiful one, in tamil.it is believed that the temple was originally constructed by the pandyas. later, more structures like shrines and pillared halls were added by madurai nayaka and vijayanagar kings. the temple has a granite wall enclosing all its shrines and a five-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower). the shrine in the center houses the image of koodal azhagar in a sitting posture. paintings of ashtadikpalagas are present in the inner walls of the sanctum. mathuravalli's shrine is situated to the south of the main shrine. shrines of krishna, rama, lakshmi narasimha and laksmi narayana are also located near the sanctum.