At a distance of 13 km from Tirunelveli, Venkatachalapathy Temple is a Hindu temple located at Krishnapuram village in Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu. Popularly referred to as as Krishnapuram Temple, this is without doubt one of the finest pilgrimage locations to go to in Tirunelveli.
The temple is devoted to Lord Vishnu. Based on the inscriptions within the temple, the temple was constructed by Krishnappa Nayak (1563-72), the son of Viswanatha Nayak, the founding father of Madurai Nayak dynasty. Krishnappa is attributed to the development of the precincts across the temple and the hovering temple tower. The copper plates from Sadasiva Raya point out grants to mild lamps perpetually and lay gardens. The village was initially named Thiruvenkatapuram and acquired modified to Krishnapuram throughout the rule of Krishnappa Nayak.
Constructed within the Dravidian type of structure, the temple occupies an space of 1.eight acres and is surrounded by a granite wall. The 5 tiered rajagopuram is 110 ft tall. The sanctum homes the picture of Venkatachalapathy in standing posture with 4 arms. Two of his arms maintain the Sankhu and Chakra, whereas the opposite two sport Abayamudra and Kadahasta. There are separate sannadhis for goddesses Sridevi and Bhudevi within the prakaram. There are lot of halls within the temple specifically the Pandal Mandap, Vahana Mandap, Ranga Mandap and Jeeyar Mandap.
Krishnapuram temple sculptures are famous for his or her excessive workmanship and inventive expertise all through the world. The stone for carving out the idols has been chosen with such care that they produce melodious musical sounds when struck at completely different locations. On the northern facet of the temple, there’s a Veerappa Nayak Mandapam with two fantastically carved elephants at its entrance. Six pillars may be seen on the heart of the mandapam which bear photos of beautiful magnificence depicting scenes from the puranas. They’re so energetic and their options and expressions so pure. The Jeeyar Mandap additionally homes lot of pillars with photos of women holds lamps as in Kerala temples.
The 11 day Brahmotsavam in Purattasi (September-October) and Vaikunda Ekadasi in December-January are the key festivals celebrated within the temple with nice pomp. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Non secular and Endowment Board of the Authorities of Tamil Nadu.
Timings: 7 AM – 11.30 AM & 5.30 PM – eight PM