01A pot of appam
King Upamanyu lost his strength to the curse of Durvasa and was told to feed a lakh of people every day to be free of it. One day an old man came to the feeding and ate everything that had been cooked for all of them, and then asked for a kudam, a pot, of neyyappam. Only that, he said, would end his hunger. The king brought it, and the old man showed himself as Vishnu. The curse ended, and the Perumal is Appakkudathan, the Lord with the pot of appam. He lies facing west, the pot in his right hand, Upamanyu and Durvasa in the sanctum. Twenty-one steps lead up to him.
02Thirty-three pasurams
Periyalvar, Thirumazhisai Alvar, Nammalvar and Thirumangai Alvar sing of Thirupper Nagar, thirty-three pasurams together. Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Periyalvar reached the Lord’s feet here and that Nammalvar sang his last verses at this temple. Koviladi, ‘at the foot of the Kovil’, lies downstream of Srirangam, and with Srirangapatna, Srirangam, Indalur and the Vatarangam of Sirkazhi it forms the Pancharanga Kshetrams. Inscriptions of the eighteenth regnal year of Aditya Chola speak of gifts for the main hall. The Panguni Brahmotsavam and ther, Kaisika Dwadasi and the Maasi Magam bath in the Kaveri are the great festivals.
The life of this place
- Alvar periodFour Alvars sing of Thirupper Nagar in thirty-three pasurams.
- Aditya Chola, 18th regnal yearInscriptions record gifts towards the main hall (ARE 1901, nos. 283, 300, 301, 303).
At Koviladi on the south bank of the Kaveri, about 16 km from Tiruchirappalli towards Thiruvaiyaru. Neyyappam prasadam is given after the night puja.
