Nagraj means king of snakes. According to Hindu Puranas, there is a provision for the worship of eight serpents like Anantha, Vasuki, Takshak, Padma, Mahapadma, Kulik, Shankh and Karkotaka. Kashyap and Kadru are considered as the parents of all snakes.
Lord Adi Shesha is a thousand-headed immortal serpent, who rests Lord Vishnu in the form of a bed in Kshirsagar. Vasuki is the necklace of Shiva and represents the dormant energy called Kundalini.
According to a folk tale, once a woman was cutting grass, her sickle fell on a stone, which was in the form of a five-headed serpent. Seeing the blood flowing from the stone, she got scared and ran to her village. He told everyone about it and when they saw that the girl's sickle had hit the five-headed snake, which had oozing blood, they were astonished. Fearing that they would be influenced by Magad, they built a small hut with mud walls at that place and worshiped there. Since then, the temple came to be called Nagercoil (Temple of Nagas).

Once, the king of Kalakkad, who was suffering from leprosy, had come to this temple and did penance to get cured. After his prayer that he was completely cured, the pleased king built the present Nagraj temple.

The Nagercoil temple is built according to the Kerala architectural style and the entrance is reminiscent of the Chinese architectural style. The five-faced deity is situated in a wet place in a square plot below the ground.
The soil under the seat of Nagraj has a saffron color due to the blood in it as blood flows from the head of the idol, it is distributed as prasad to the devotees. Surprisingly, the amount of soil does not decrease, although some part of it is taken for distribution every day. This soil is considered to be the best medicine for skin diseases.
On the earthen walls around the temple, the roof is made of coconut leaves and bamboo sticks. There is no vimana on the top of the temple.

Seva and Puja

• Devotees offer a silver snake statue in the form of a snake symbol to the temple. In addition, they pour milk into the ant hill in the temple.
• Sarappabali, Noorum Palum and Manjal (turmeric powder) Abhishek are the main offerings to these deities.
• Ananthakrishnan's Utsavamurthy is decorated for Ezunelathu during Radhotsavam. Radhotsavam festival falls on the occasion of Thippuyam.
• Ayilam (Thulam): On the 12th day special rituals are performed to avoid Naga dosha, Nagashapa (curse of the snake), Nagathara, and Sarpakkuvu.

Best time to visit: All year round

interesting fact:
Apart from Nagraj, there are images of Jain Tirthankaras Mahavira and Parshvanatha carved on the pillars of the temple. Rahu dosha, Ketu dosha, Kaalsarpayoga etc. can be eliminated by worshiping and performing rituals in this temple.
The leaves of the Odavalli tree have medicinal properties to cure leprosy. Each leaf of the tree has a different taste. Arshuganpati, surrounded by Nagapratishthas, is a feature of the temple.

Nearby Places:

Suchindram temple is unique in that it worships the trinity - Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma combined in the form of a linga.
St. Francis Xavier Church and Ullarvi Waterfall