Loganatha of Thirukkannangudi ā Vishnu lord of the world
Loganatha Perumal is the presiding Vishnu of Tirukkannangudi, a village about 2 km from Sikkal in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu, on the TiruvarurāNagapattinam highway [S2]. The temple is constructed in the Dravidian style and is glorified in the NÄlÄyira Divya Prabandham [S2]. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams, and his consort is worshipped as Loganayaki [S2]. A 2016 report names the shrine more fully as the Sri LokanayakanāSri Lokanayaki temple, also called Sri Damodara Narayana Perumal temple [S1], and it is described there as standing in an interior village about four km from the highway, amid fields.
The shrine belongs to the Pancha Kannan (Krishnaranya) Kį¹£etram group of five. Kannan refers to Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu; pancha is five; and kį¹£etram a holy place. The five are Tirukannangudi, Kabisthalam, Tirukannapuram, Tirukannamangai and Tirukkovilur ā four in Chola Nadu and one in Nadu Nadu. Five similar temples exist in North India as PaƱca-dvÄrakas [S2]. Notably, Krishna is not the presiding deity in any of the five: the association comes from the processional deity [S2].
A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and its bodies of water, and the gateway tower is a five-tiered raja-gopuram [S2]. The temple tank lies just outside the temple and is named Sravana; the tower is named Utpala [S2]. The prime deity has an imposing image in the sanctum, which is approached from the gateway tower along the axial line through the flagstaff, by two pillared halls named Mukha Maį¹įøapa and Ardha Maį¹įøapa; the shrines of Loganayagi and other deities stand around the sanctum in the first and second precincts [S2]. Local listings give further variant names ā the mÅ«lavar as Loganathaperumal and ÅyÄmalameni Perumal, a thÄyÄr shrine as Amį¹tavalli, and shrines including NÄganÄthar and a set of Åaiva-named deities such as KÄyarogaį¹eÅvara and NeelakandeÅvara [S5]. These variants are recorded as local naming, not resolved here.
As tradition. The sage Gautama is held to have worshipped the deity here. The temple legend turns on Vasiį¹£į¹ha, regarded as Krishna's most devout devotee: he was worshipping Krishna with an idol made of butter, and Krishna appeared as a child, ate the idol and ran off; Vasiį¹£į¹ha chased the child, which came running to this place. Other sages were doing penance there, and Krishna gave them a boon that he would be bound by their devotion, and at their request remained in this place and appeared to Vasiį¹£į¹ha's devotees as he had to them [S2]. The god is also held to have appeared to BrahmÄ and to the sages Gautama, Uparivasu, Vasiį¹£į¹ha, Bhį¹gu and Madarar [S2]. These are the shrine's own accounts and are given as tradition, not as history.
The shrine is venerated in the NÄlÄyira Divya Prabandham [S2]. Its place in the Divya Desam canon is what the temple's identity rests on, and a standard photographic survey of South Indian shrines and a specialist monograph on Krishna temples in Tamil Nadu are both cited in the reference literature for this temple [S3][S4]. The Tirumalai-Tirupati Devasthanam's own published list of the Pandya-nadu Divya Desams is the source from which the temple's canonical numbering derives [S5].
Origin & history. The temple is stated to have been built by the Medieval Cholas of the late 9th century CE, with later contributions from Vijayanagara kings and the Madurai Nayaks [S2]. This dating is given by the temple article rather than by an inscription, and no epigraphical record was located for the shrine; the statement is recorded as reported and flagged below.
The priests are Vaishnava Brahmins [S2]. Four daily rituals are performed: KÄįø·asaį¹sthi 08:00, UccÄ«kÄlam 12:00, SÄyarakį¹£ai 18:00 and Artha JÄmam 20:00 [S2]. Each has three stages ā alaį¹ gÄram, neivÄį¹aį¹am and dÄ«pa ÄrÄdhanai ā for both Loganatha Perumal and Loganayagi [S2]. The lamp stage is accompanied by nÄįøasvÄram and tavil, priests recite from the Vedas, and worshippers prostrate themselves before the temple mast [S2]. Weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals are also performed [S2].
Six daily rituals and four yearly festivals are stated to be held, of which the Panguni Brahmotsavam, celebrated in AprilāMay, is the most prominent [S2]. One rite here is unusual for a Vaishnava shrine: ThirunerÄni Viįø»a, at which the festival idol is smeared with ash, a practice usually confined to Åaiva temples [S2]. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu [S2].
This shrine was in visible disrepair and is being restored. A 2016 report records that the HR&CE Department had taken up renovation, that the work involved a real challenge because the temple had been neglected, and that Rs.50 lakh was sanctioned for a first phase, with the Executive Officer of the temple named as the source [S1]. The planned scope included beautification of the thÄyÄr sanctum, the temple tank, and the circular platform around the Maįø”izhamaram, the temple tree which Tirumangai Alwar is said to have used often; the vÄ«mÄį¹ams of minor shrines, doors where needed, the Sri Ramanuja shrine near the raja-gopuram, and the floors before the sanctum [S1]. A large number of donors came forward, with donor selection to be made in consultation with senior officials, and the stated principle was to retain the old architecture and not alter the original beauty of the temple [S1]. The Mylapore-based Kinchitkaram Trust took on the nandÄvanam as part of its "Ramanujar 1000 Nandavana kainkaryam" [S1]. Pilgrims interviewed for the report observed that work had begun only some years after the balÄlayam, and that it was proceeding slowly [S1]. Whether that work was completed is not recorded in any source fetched.
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