Vaikuntham (the celestial abode)

Eight Alvars (Poigai, Peyalvar, Periyalvar, Andal, Thirumazhisai, Thiruppaan, Thirumangai and Nammalvar) are traditionally credited with a combined 34 pasurams describing Vaikuntham, making it (alongside Thiruppaarkadal) one of the two celestial Divya Desams among the 108. Nammalvar's own Thiruvaimozhi closes with a decad traditionally read as describing the liberated soul's final ascent to Paramapadam itself, escorted into Vishnu's presence, verses Sri Vaishnavas recite specifically in connection with a devotee's passing, making this Divya Desam's pasurams unusually central to the tradition's understanding of death and liberation, not only its poetry.

The 106 earthly Divya Desams are traditionally regarded as reflections or footholds of this one celestial abode, each earthly temple, in this understanding, offers pilgrims a physical, visitable echo of the union with Vishnu that Vaikuntham represents in full and permanent form.

Tradition describes Vaikuntham as approached through seven golden doors, guarded by the divine gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya, with Vishnu's vehicle Garuda and his commander Vishwaksena stationed at the innermost gate. Beyond it, Vishnu and Lakshmi are described as seated upon Adishesha in the assembly hall of Paramapadam, attended by the sage-devotee Narada's music and by the eternally liberated souls (nityasuris) who reside there.

This cosmology has a direct, living echo in present-day temple practice: the festival of Vaikunta Ekadasi, observed at Vishnu temples across South India, centres on the ceremonial opening of a special northern or eastern gate (variously called the Vaikunta Dwaram, Swarga Vasal or Paramapada Vasal depending on the temple) that devotees pass through once a year in the belief that doing so symbolically grants the same access to Vaikuntham that this Divya Desam itself represents.