Astabhujakarathan Kanchipuram

This is also one of the divyadesham temples in Kanchipuram . The Lord Vishnu here is in standing position with 8 hands along with weapons .

The Lord Vishnu is named here as Adhikesava Perumal , Gajendravaradan or Astabhujakarathan ( which means eight hands ) as astam means 8 in sanskrit .

The Thayar name is Goddess Alarmelvalli , Padmasini or Pushpavalli .

Pei alwar and Thirumangai alwar has sung praising this Lord .

As per legends once Lord Brahma performed a big yagam without calling his consort Goddess Saraswathy , to disturb the yagam Goddess Saraswathy sent Nakkarrar ( asuras ) in order to perform the yagam successfully Lord Brahma pleaded Lord Vishnu for help , answering to his prayers Lord Vishnu appeared as Astabhujakarathan ( 8 hands with weapons ) and killed the Nakkarrars sent by Goddess Saraswathy . Hence the Lord here gets the name Astabhujakarathan . Astam means 8 in sanskrit .

The only divyadesham having Paramapatha vaasal out of 14 divyadesham temples of Kanchipuram .