108 Vishnu temples Details. There are 108 vainava divya desa sthalam for lord vishnu. The Grace of Lord Vishnu is spread throughout the country, from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari.  There are several temples dedicated to God Vishnu, which are also called Sthalams.

Divya desam Temples are the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the works of the Tamil Azhvars (saints). ”Divya” means “premium” and “Desam” indicates “place” (temple). Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and last two are outside the Earthly realms.The last two are Thirupalkaddal and Paramapadam. Tirupalkaddal is the ocean of milk and Paramapadam is the Srivaikuntam where lord Narayana presides. The Divyadesams are revered by the 12 Azhvars in the Divya Prabandha, a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses. While most Divyadesams follow Thenkalai mode of worship, some follow Vadakalai too among others.

The Divyadesams can be divided into 7 categories:

Thondai Naadu temples
Chozha Naadu temples
Nadu Naadu Temples
Pandiya Naadu Temples
Malayala Naadu temples
Vadu Naadu Temples
Vinnulaga Thiruppathigal

The idols of Lord Vishnu in these Divyadesams can be found in 3 positions:

Kidantha Thirukkolam        ( Sleeping Position )    – 27 Divya desams
Veetrirundha Thirukkolam  ( Sitting Position )        – 21 Divya desams
Nindra Thirukkolam           ( Standing Position )     – 60 Divya desams

In these 108 Divyadesams, the Lord Vishnu can be seen facing one of the four directions: east, north, south and west. On this basis, the Divyadesams can be classified as:

Towards East direction – 79 Divya desams
Towards West direction – 19 Divya desams
Towards North direction – 3 Divya desams
Towards South direction – 7 Divya desams