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Concept
Divya Desam
Summary
A Divya Desam (दिव्यदेशम्, திவ்ய தேசம்) or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition.
Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the last two are believed to be outside the earth, in Tirupparkatal and Vaikuntham. In India, they are spread over the states of Tamil Nadu (84), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (2), Gujarat (1), Uttar Pradesh (4), and Uttarakhand (3). Muktinath, Saligramam is the only Divya Desam in Nepal. The Divya Desams are revered by the 12 Alvars in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses. The Divya Desams follow either Tenkalai or Vadakalai modes of worship.
In Sanskrit, divya means "divine" and desam indicates "realm" (temple).
Divya Desams are classified into six regions:
Chera Nadu
Chola Nadu
Pandya Nadu
Pallava Nadu
Vada Nadu
Vinnulaga Divya Desams
The word Alvar in Tamil, means "the immersed", referring to the their deep devotion of God. Alvars are considered to be the twelve poet-saints of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism during the 5th-8th centuries CE. The religious works of these saints in Tamil, their hymns of love and devotion, are compiled as the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, containing 4000 verses and the 108 temples revered in their songs are classified as Divya Desams. The saints had different origins and belonged to different varnas. According to tradition, the first three Alvars (mudhal alvargal), Poigai, Bhuthathalvar, Peyalvar and Andal were said to be born "out of divinity", Tirumalisai was the son of a sage, Thondaradi, Mathurakavi, Periyalvar were of Brahmin birth, Kulasekhara from the Kshatriya community, Nammalvar was from a cultivator family, Tirupanalvar from the panar community and Tirumangai was from the kalvar community.
Official source
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