Abhimana Kshethram or Abhimana Sthalam are a list of 108 sacred Vishnu and Lakshmi temples apart from the other 108 Divya desams. Abhimana desams or close abodes, these temples are the most significant temples in the Sri Vaishnavite tradition which has similar greatness as Divya Desams. These set of temples is classified as an Abhimana Kshethram as it is mentioned in various Puranas and Ithihasas such as Ramayana and Mahabharata and have significant Sthala Puranas based on the Ithihasas and various Puranas of Hinduism. The temples are also said to be visited by many Religious scholars and saints such as Ramanuja, Adi Shankara, Madhvacharya, Nathamuni, Yamunacharya, Vedanta Desika, Manavala Mamunigal, Purandara Dasa, Narayana Teertha, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and by many other great Vedic teachers and Rishis. Some of these Temples are said to be visited by the Alvars who did not sing the god's grace due to various reasons. Out of these 108 temples Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi is considered as the 1st out of the 108 Abhimana Kshethras as Thirumangai Alvar is believed to have visited the temple and is believed to have built the tall flag post outside the temple with the help of cotton bales. The other Alvars who are believed to have visited the temple at various periods were seemingly lost in under the beauty of the presiding deity and were at a loss for words.
Legend There were many old and highly important temples which were not sung by the Alvars in their Naalayira Divya Prabandham hence, not classified as a Divya desam which made many Vaishnava scholars sad. Nathamuni, Madhvacharya, Ramanuja, Vedanta Desika and many other Vaishnavate scholars classified another sect of temples called Abhimana Kshethras. These temples are so close to the heart of Maha Vishnu hence, called Abhimana desam.Neevel, Walter G. (1977). Yāmuna's Vedānta and Pāñcarātra: Integrating the Classical and the Popular, p.15. Issue 10 of Harvard theological review. Harvard dissertations in religion. Scholars Press. These temples are classified as 108 Temples as various Vaishnavite Acharayas, Alvars and Various Rishis of puranas and ithihas glorify them.
List of Abhimana Kshethrams This is the list of the 108 sacred Temples dedicated to various forms of Vishnu the supreme deity of Vaishnavism. These 108 Abhimana Kshethras are present only in India.
Name Deity ImageLocation1Rajagopalaswamy Temple, MannargudiSri Vidhya Rajagopalaswamy (Krishna) and Sri Sengamala ThayarMannargudi, Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu2Kothandaramar temple, VaduvurKothandaramar and Sita Vaduvur, Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu3Kothandaramar temple, ParuthiyurRama and Sita 4Srinivasa Perumal Temple, KudavasalSrinivasa Perumal with Sridevi, BhudeviKudavasal, Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu5Kalinga narthana krishna TempleVeda Naarayanar with Sridevi and Bhudevi Paruthiyur, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu6Chakrapani Temple, KumbakonamChakrapani Perumal and Vijayalakshmi ThayarKumbakonam, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu7Kothandaramar Temple, AdambarRama with Sita Adambar, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu8Kothandaramar Temple, ThillaivilagamRama with SitaThillaivilagam, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu 9Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal, VaragurLakshmi Narayana Perumal, Venkatesha Perumal and Navaneetha Krishnan 10Mudikondan Kothandaramar TempleRama with Sita Mudikondan, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu 11Kothandaramaswamy Temple, PatteeswaramRama with Sita Patteeswaram, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu12Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, ThirumandangudiRanganthaswamy and Ranganayaki Thayar.(Thondaradippodi Alvar avathara sthalam) Thirumandangudi, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu13Ramaswamy Temple, KumbakonamRama with SitaKumbakonam, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu14Rajagopalaswamy Temple, KumbakonamRajagopalaswamy with Sridevi and BhudeviKumbakonam, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu15Varahaperumal Temple, KumbakonamVaraha with BhudeviKumbakonam, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu16Vasudeva Perumal TempleVasudeva perumal with Sridevi and Bhudevi 17Veetrirundha Perumal TempleVeetrindha Perumal with Bhudevi and Niladevi18Amrithanarayana Perumal TempleAmritanarayana Perumal and Amrithavalli ThayarThirukkadaiyur,Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu19Anandha narayana perumal temple, Abaranadari, NagapattinamAnandha narayana perumal and Alankaravalli Thayar 20Devanarayana Perumal temple, Thevur, NagapattinamDeva Narayana Perumal with Sridevi and Bhudevi 21Varadha Narayana Perumal Temple, Vadakalathur, NagapattinamVaradha Narayana Perumal and Perundevi Thayar 22Yadhava Perumal Temple, Kizhvelur, NangapattinamYadhava Perumal with Sridevi and Bhudevi23Sri Veeranarayana PerumalVeeranarayana Perumal and Maragadhavalli Thayar Kattumannarkoil, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. 24Sri Renganatha Perumal Temple, VadarengamRanganatha Perumal and Ranganayaki Thayar 25Bhu Varaha Swamy templeVaraha and Ambujavalli ThayarSrimushnam, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu.26Adhirangam Ranganathaswamy templeAdi Ranganatha Perumal and Ranganayaki Thayar Sankarapuram, Tamil Nadu, India27Sri Lakshmi Narasimhswamy Temple, PolurNarasimha and Kanagavalli Thayar Polur, Tamil Nadu, India28Sri Yoga Rama templeYoga Rama and Shengamalavalli Thayar Nedumgunam, Chettupattu, Tamil Nadu29Eri-Katha Ramar TempleErikatha Rama and Janakavalli Thayar (Sita) Maduranthakam, Tamil Nadu, India30Sundaravarada Perumal templeSundaravarada Perumal and Anandavalli Thayar Uthiramerur, Tamil Nadu31Padalathri Narasimhar TemplePadalathri Narasimhar and Ahobilavalli Thayar Singaperumal Koil, Chennai City32Adikesava Perumal temple, MylaporeAdi Keshava perumal and Mayuravalli Thayar33Madhava Perumal temple, MylaporeMadhava Perumal and Amrithavalli Thayar34Jagannatha Perumal templeJaganatha Perumal and Thirumangaivalli Thayar35Adikesava Perumal temple, SriperumpudurAdi Keshava Perumal and Yathirajavalli Thayar36Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple, ThiruparkadalVenkateshwara and Padmavathy37Varadaraja Perumal Temple, ShoolagiriVaradaraja Perumal and Perundevi Thayar 38Betrayaswamy Perumal temple, DenkanikottaiBetrayaswamy Perumal and Soundaryavalli Thayar39Adi Srinivasa perumal temple, Mookanur, DharmapuriAdi moola Srinivasa Perumal and Padmavathy Thayar40Kodandaramaswamy Temple, Ayothyapatinam, SalemRama with Sita 41Sundararaja Perumal Temple, SalemSundararaja Perumal and Sundaravalli Thayar 42Narasimhaswamy Temple, NamakkalNarasimha and Namagiri Thayar43Sri Kalyana Venkataramanaswamy, ThanthonimalaiSwayambu Sri Kalyana Venkataramanaswamy and Lakshmi in Vakshasthalam 44Vedanarayana perumal temple, ThirunarayanapuramVedanarayana Perumal and Vedanayaki Thayar 45Gunaseelam Prasanna Venkatachalapathy TemplePrasanna Venkatachalapathy and Lakshmi in Vakshasthalam46Kattu Narasimhaperumal Temple, SrirangamLakshmi Narasimha Perumal And Lakshmi on his lap.Srirangam, Trichy district,Tamil Nadu47Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal Temple, AriyalurVaradaraja Perumal and Lakshmi in The Vakshasthala 48Sri Venkatesa Perumal Temple (Melathiruppathi) – MondipalayamShaligrama Srinivasa Perumal49Soundararajaperumal temple, ThadikombuSoundararajaperumal and Soundaravalli50Ranganathaswamy temple, KaramadaiRanganatha Perumal and Ranganayaki Thayar51Guruvayur TempleGuruvayoorapan and Lakshmi in Vakshasthalam52Janardanaswamy Temple, VarkalaJanardanaswamy Perumal 53Panniyur Sri Varahamurthy TempleVaraha with Bhudevi 54Ananthapura Lake Temple, KasaragodAnanthapadmanabhaswamy Perumal55Thirunelli, Maha Vishnu TempleMaha Vishnu 56Thirupalkadal Sreekrishnaswamy TempleKrishna as Thirupalkadal Bhattarakar with Bhoodevi and Mahalakshmi 57Thriprayar Rama TempleRama58Koodalmanikyam TempleBharata59Payammal Shatrughna TempleShatrughna60Sri Krishna Trichambaram TempleRaudra Krishna61Kanipura Sri Gopalakrishna TempleGopalakrishna (Krishna) 62Maramkulangara Krishna TempleKrishna63Sree Vasudevapuram Mahavishnu TempleMaha Vishnu and Ashta Lakshmi64Sree Poornathrayeesa TempleAdi Narayana as Santhana gopala murthi65Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Swamy TempleKrishna66Chottanikkara TempleLakshmi Narayana67Andalurkavu Sri Ramachandramoorthi TempleRama68Sree Krishna Swami Temple, ThodupuzhaKrishna 69Evoor Major Sri Krishnaswamy TempleKrishna 70Thiruvallam Sree Parasurama TempleParashurama 71Vilwadrinatha TempleRama72Trikkulasekharapuram Sri Krishna TempleKrishna73Ramapuram Sree Rama TempleRama with Sita 74Varadaraja Perumal, ThiruvenkatanathapuramVaradaraja Perumal With Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi75Thanumalayan TempleBrahma Vishnu and Shiva76Padhmanabhaswamy Perumal temple, Nellaiappar TempleAnathapadhmanabhaswamy and Gajalakshmi Thayar77Sri Varadharaja Perumal KovilVaradaraja Perumal and Mahalakshmi Thayar 78Rajagopalaswamy ManarkoilRajagopalaswamy Perumal 79Kattalagar Perumal TempleKallazhagar Perumal80Kothandaramaswamy Temple, RameshwaramRama and Seetha Pirati (Sita)81Ranganathaswamy Temple, SrirangapatnaRanganathaswamy and Ranganayaki Devi82Ranganathaswamy Temple, ShivanasamudraRanganathaswamy and Ranganayaki83Cheluvanarayana Swamy TempleCheluvanarayana Swamy84Gunja Narasimha Swamy Temple, Tirumakudal NarasipuraNarasimha and Lakshmi Devi85Udupi Sri Krishna MathaKrishna86Kalady Krishna TempleSree Krishnaswamy87Narasimha JharniSri Lakshmi Nararasimhswamy88Kurmanathaswamy temple, SrikurmamKurmanathaswamy and Kurmanayaki Devi89Yogananda Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple, MattapalliSri Yogananda Lakshmi Narasimha with Rajalakshmi Thayar and Chenchu Lakshmi Thayar 90Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, SimhachalamVaraha Narasimha and Simhavalli thayar91Sita Ramachandraswamy Temple, BhadrachalamRama with Sita92Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, MangalagiriLakshmi Narasimha93Kodandarama Temple, TirupatiRama with Sita94Jagannath Temple, PuriJaganatha and Jaganmata95Chakra Narasimha TempleChakra Narasimha 96Vithoba TempleVithoba and Rakhumai97Alarnatha MandiraMaha Vishnu as Jaganatha (Azhwarnathar) and Mahalakshmi98JyotisarKrishna99Narayan SarovarMaha Vishnu100Sakhigopal TempleGopinatha101Khirachora Gopinatha TempleGopinatha Remuna, Odisha, India102Charbhuja Nath TempleCharbhuja Nath Kumbhalgarh,Rajsamand district, Rajasthan103VishnuprayagMaha Vishnu as Theertham confluence of India's Alaknanda and Dhauliganga 104Vishnupad Temple, GayaMaha VishnuGaya, Bihar, India105Tri Yugi Narayanaswamy TempleNarayana and LakshmiTriyuginarayan village in Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand106Narasimha temple, Jyothir MathNarasimhaJoshimath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand107Adi Keshava Temple, KashiAdi Keshava Kashi108Yoga-Narasimha Swamy TempleSaligrama Yoga Narasimha Melukote ,Mandya district, Karnataka
References
External links Other Important Vaishnavite temples
Shrine design: Pristine glory https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2018/oct/04/the-temple-where-sri-ramanujar-is-celebrated-as-a-grihastha-1880704.html