Dakshina Badri

The Thirunarayanapuram temple is ideally located on the Cauvery banks of the Mandya district. This temple is a very popular Vaishnavite temple and as per mythological stories, the Sanatkumaras brought the idol of Sri Narayana and installed it at Melkote, hence the name Thirunarayanapuram. The temple celebrates an annual festival and devotees flock here in huge numbers for the Vaira Mudi Utsavam. Thirunarayanpuram is also known as 'Dakshina Badri'. This is the only temple which has a separate sannidhi for Selva Pillai (Sampath Kumaran). During the annual festival, both the Utsavar and the Moolavar deities are seen together. The temple prakaram is very big and it is one of the ancient temples of South India. It is said that Lord Rama offered his prayers to Thirunarayanan. The deity is also called as Chelva Narayanaswami. The principal Goddess worshipped here is Yadugiri Nachiyar and her name stands for 'Hill Goddess'. There have a lot of significant contributions by the Hoysala kings, the Wodeyars and the Vijayanagara kings to the temple. The temple is also referred to as Dakshina Badri. The Narada Purana clearly talks about the temple. Thirunarayanapuram is one of the four Swayambu kshetrams and hence it is considered to be very holy and it is believed that whoever prays with devotion will benefit.