Spiritual PlaceHindu temple

Vedanarayana Temple, Nagalapuram

Nagalapuram temple to Vishnu as Matsya, the fish avatar, where evening sun reaches the deity three days a year

Photo: Bhaskaranaidu · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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01 — The story

The story

Vedanarayana Temple, also called Matsya Narayana Temple, is a Vaishnava temple in Nagalapuram, Andhra Pradesh. It honours Vishnu in his Matsya form, the fish that is the first of the Dashavatara, his ten main incarnations, and it is one of only a few temples in India to show him this way. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams administers the temple.

The temple is famous for its Surya Pooja Utsavam, regarded as an astronomical marvel. The sanctum faces west, and for three days each year the evening sun, shortly before sunset, shines straight in on the presiding deity, its rays crossing 360 feet from the gopuram to the garbhagriha. On the first day the light stops at the deity's feet, on the second at the navel and on the third at the crown.

Unmapia

02 — About

About Vedanarayana Temple, Nagalapuram

Coming soon

We’re still writing about Vedanarayana Temple, Nagalapuram: its history, what’s there and why it’s worth the trip.

Where it is

Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

13.39° N 79.80° E