Aappoor Sri Nithya Kalyana Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal
Aappoor is a tiny village situated about 5 kms from Singaperumal Koil. This village lies on the west side of Singaperumal Koil off the GST Road. One has to take right from Singaperumal Koil through the railway level crossing and drive about 3 kms and again take right and go about another 2 kms to reach Aappoor. This is a hill temple and is visible from a distance itself on the right hand side of the road. The foot hill can be reached by going another half a kilometer inside the village. This hill is located about 2 km from Thirukkachur, where the hill is called Oushadhagiri and the deity Sri Oushadheeswarar. Similarly, this hill too is called as Oushadhagiri, as it contains lots of herbs in it.
Legend has it that on all full moon days Siddhars and Rishis gather here to worship the Lord. Also, Giripradhakshanam is popular in this temple. There are about 500 steps to reach the temple on top of the hill. The stone steps are beautifully done and painted in white, which look beautiful when viewed from a distance. The steps are also a bit tedious to climb up. But one can stop in between to breathe some fresh herbal breeze and proceed. The temple is very small and beautiful. The main deity here is Sri Nithya Kalyana Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal, also fondly called as Aappooraar by the local villagers. This temple is said to have been mentioned in many palm leaves of Naadi Astrology. It is also said that, this is probably the only Vaishnava temple, where Sage Agasthiyar had stayed and performed penance.
The whole temple is just the sanctum and the mandapam around it. The main deity is seen facing east. Sri Garudan is seen in front of the sanctum, facing west towards the Lord. Perumal here is said to bless the devotees for timely marriage and harmony within the family. The Mandapam is decorated with Dhasavathara (10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu) images made of concrete, which is seen all around. Pilgrims have to carry water or other refreshments with them, as nothing is available on top, after a strenuous climb. One can have a scenic view of the villages around, from the temple on hill top. Lovely breeze embraces us and cools us down relaxing us to prepare for descending down.
This temple is open only till 11 am in the morning including Sundays, as there are not much people visiting here, except on festival days. But it is ideal to visit this temple on a normal day without much crowd. Also it is suggested to go in small groups, which will make the climb less painful.
