Sri Thothadhrinatha Perumal Temple

Temple tradition holds that Lakshmi was born here in one of her earthly incarnations, taking the name Srivaramangai (literally "the lady of Varamangai") and it is this legend that gives the surrounding village its name, Thirucheeravaramangai (also recorded as Varagunamangai), and the temple its particular standing within the Tirunelveli cluster of Divya Desams as a birthplace of the goddess rather than simply a shrine of Vishnu alone. The presiding deity here is also known locally as Vanamamalai Perumal, with the temple itself sometimes called Vanamamalai or Thotadrikshetram, alongside its formal Divya Desam name of Thothadhrinatha.

Unusually for a Divya Desam of this standing, no Alvar mangalasasanam pasurams have been definitively attributed to this specific temple in the sources consulted for this page, a gap worth stating plainly rather than glossing over, since the great majority of the 108 Divya Desams carry at least one Alvar's verses in their honour.

The temple stands on the banks of the Thamirabarani river and is traditionally held to have been built by the Pandya kings, with later contributions and renovations credited to the Vijayanagara Empire and the Madurai Nayaks, a layered building history shared with several other Divya Desams in this part of Tirunelveli district, where Pandya-era foundations were repeatedly enlarged and endowed by the dynasties that followed.

The temple complex covers about 5 acres and is built in the Dravidian style, with a five-tiered gopuram marking its entrance. Its sanctum sanctorum, antarala (vestibule) and mandapams follow a traditional plan, with the sanctum's base mouldings (including the kapota bandha adhishthanam with its padma jagathy and kumudam courses) reflecting the same Pandya-and-successor building conventions found across the Nava Tirupathi and Tirunelveli-cluster Divya Desams nearby.