Sri Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple

Temple tradition holds that the sage Kalava performed penance seeking a suitable husband for each of his 360 daughters, and that Varaha appeared and agreed to marry all of them, one, in effect, for every day of the traditional year. This legend is understood devotionally to mean that the deity continues to "wed" a devotee anew each day, and it is this idea of an ever-renewing, ever-available marital blessing that has made Thiruvidanthai one of the most visited Divya Desams specifically for couples seeking marriage blessings and for families praying for a suitable match, a devotional specialty distinct from most other temples in this list, whose primary association is with an Alvar hymn or an epic episode rather than marriage itself.

This is also one of the relatively few Divya Desams where Vishnu is enshrined in his Varaha (boar) avatar rather than in one of the more commonly seen forms, adding a second layer of theological distinctiveness: devotees come here both for the Varaha association (the rescuer of the earth goddess Bhudevi in Puranic cosmology) and for the temple's specific reputation as a place to pray for marriage, two separate devotional threads woven into the same shrine.

The temple is generally attributed to Pallava-era construction in the 7th century CE, with significant additional building work carried out under the Cholas in the 11th century, giving the temple two distinct historical layers common to many Divya Desams along the Thondai Nadu coast. Its coastal location, close to Mahabalipuram, situates it within the same broader region of Pallava maritime and religious activity that produced the Shore Temple and the other monuments for which Mahabalipuram is internationally known.

The sanctum, built in the Kalyana Vimanam style (its very name tied to the temple's wedding theme) houses Nithya Kalyana Perumal in his Varaha form, with the temple's Kalyana Theertham and Varaha Theertham tanks both directly named for the deity's marital and boar-avatar associations.

The temple's annual Brahmotsavam is held in the Tamil month of Chittirai (April–May), following the same broad ten-day festival format observed at other major Vishnu Divya Desams in the region. Distinctively, Garuda Seva (the procession of the utsavar mounted on the eagle-vahanam) is repeated across four separate months of the year here (Aani, Aadi, Masi and Thai), a frequency notably higher than the single annual Garuda Sevai typical of most Divya Desams, and one that keeps the temple's festival calendar unusually active for marriage-seeking pilgrims visiting throughout the year.

Because of its marriage-blessing association, auspicious wedding-related dates and the Tamil months considered favourable for marriage proposals also see a noticeable rise in visiting devotees independent of the temple's formal festival calendar.

Daily worship follows a four-times-a-day schedule: Ushatkalam around 8 a.m., Kalasanthi around 10 a.m., Sayarakshai around 5 p.m., and Ardhajamam around 8 p.m., a lighter schedule than the six-pooja calendar followed at some larger regional temples, reflecting Thiruvidanthai's more modest, village-temple scale.

Devotees seeking marriage blessings follow a specific ritual here: after performing archana, the aspirant offers two garlands to Adi Varaha and Komalavalli Thayar, then wears a garland and circumambulates the temple precincts nine times while praying for a swift and happy marriage, a distinctive practice found in this precise form at few other Divya Desams, and the reason Thiruvidanthai draws marriage-seeking pilgrims from well beyond its immediate coastal locality.