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Gajendra Varadha Perumal Temple in Thirukkavithalam, a village in the outskirts of Papanasam in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Maha Vishnu. Constructed in the South Indian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Gajendra Varadha and his consort Lakshmi as Ramamanivalli. The temple is one of the five Pancha-Kannan temples, where Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu is given prominence over the presiding deity.

King Indrajumnan was a staunch Vishnu devotee.  He  was always thinking about Lord Vishnu and would not do anything without prayer to the Lord.  

During his meditation none would call on him and he too would not grant audience to any. 

 It so happened that during his puja time, Sage Durvasa known for his short temper came to see him, but had to wait.  

As he could not meet the king for a long time, he entered his Kudil the meditating room and stood before him.  

The king was so deep in his prayers and did not recognize the presence of the sage before him.  

 The angry sage shouted that the king would be born an elephant as he was proud of his Bhakti.  The king woke up from his meditation and sought the pardon of the sage holding his feet. 

Durvasa took pity on him and said that even as an elephant he would still be a staunch Vishnu devotee and added that a crocodile would hold his leg while bathing in a tank and Perumal would rush to his rescue when he cried Aadhimoolame.  

The sage said that he would be relieved of the curse and attain salvation.

A demon, Koohoo by name was residing in a tank and had the habit of pulling the legs of those coming for a bath and harassed them, which he did to Sage Agasthya too.  

The angry sage cursed him to become a crocodile.  

When begged for the relief, the sage told the demon that he would be relieved of the curse when he caught the legs of Gajendra. 

Lord Vishnu would rush there to rescue the elephant when His discuss would hit him and the curse would disappear. 

The curses of the two sages came true in Kabila theertham, east of the temple. 

When Gajendra cried Aadhimoolame for relief from the grip of the crocodile’s teeth, Lord rushed,  killed the crocodile and protected Gajendra and granted salvation.

Lord Perumal is in a reclining (Bhujanga Sayanam) posture facing east.

It is also noteworthy that of the 108 Divya Desams, only in this temple, Perumal had granted darshan to two non-humans, an elephant and a crocodile.

Among the celebrated five Perumal temples as Pancha (five) Krishna Kshetras, Kabisthalam is one.  Other four are Tirukannamangai, Tirukannapuram, Tirukovilur and Tirukannangudi.