Tirupparankunram Murugan Temple

                       

Tirupparankunram Murugan Temple:

 one of the Six Abodes of Murugan, the temple at Tirupparankunram offers a mystic beauty. It is carved in rock and is monstrous in size for such an architecture. According to legend it is where Murugan married Deivayanai, the divine daughter of the king of heaven, Indra, and he is said to have worshipped Shiva here as Parangirinathar.

The temple is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Madurai in India. In the main shrine, apart from Muruga, deities of Lord Shiva, LordVishnu, Lord Vinayaka and Goddess Durga are housed. The other Arupadaiveedu's dedicated for Lord Muruga are Thiruchendur(100 km south of Madurai), Palani (120 km west of Madurai), Swamimalai (150 km east of Madurai), Thiruthani (50 km from Chennai) and Pazhamudircholai (10 km north of Madurai).

Temple Structure:
There are several architectural features of interest, especially the rock cut portions of this hill temple dating back to the Pandya period and the life sized sculptures in the mandapams of the Nayakar period. An Aasthaana Mandapam with several artistically carved pillars lead one to the towering 150 feet (46 m) high Rajagopuram at the entrance.

The Kambathadi Mandapam, Ardha Mandapam, and Mahamandapam are situated at different levels. The main shrine is an early rock cut temple which has cells that house the sanctums of Subramanya, Durga, Vinayakar, Shiva and Vishnu. All the statues are carved on the wall of the parankundram rock. The presiding deity lord shiva is known Parangirinathar and the female deity his consort mother Parvathy is known as Aavudai Nayaki. Panels depicting Shiva's dance of bliss are seen outside the sanctum. These magnificent works of art date back to the Pandya period.

A curious feature of this temple is that the Gods Shiva and Vishnu face each other in the main shrine, and this is a rare thing in ancient Hindu temples. This is because Hinduism always held two distinct worshipping groups - Shaivites (worshippers of Lord Shiva) and Vaishnavites (worshippers of Lord Vishnu). Outside the temple there is a beautiful pond where, according to Temple tradition, the fishes are served with salt and rice flakes by the devotees. There is also a Vedic school adjacent to the banks of the temple pond.This temple was built by carving the hill.

In front of the Dwajasthambam or the Kodi Maram, one gets the magnificently carved Nandi, Mayil and the Mouse ( the vehicle of Lord Ganesha). This is a specialty of this Murugan shrine.Going inside, one can see the sannidhis of various Hindu Gods and Hindu Goddesses. Of special mention is the sannidhi of Saneeswaran without the other eight Grahas. Climbing a flight of six steps called the "Shadashara Padigal", one reaches the Ardha Mandapam. One gets to see the rock carvings of Mahisshasura Mardini, Karpaga Vinayagar, Andarabaranar and Uggirar.

There is also a rock carved sannidhi for Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi. Shiva in the form Sivalingam and Sathiyagireeshwarar sannidhis located here cannot miss the attention of the Muruga Bakthas visiting this Murugan shrine.

The Moolavar deity is also sculptured from a rock. Abhishekams for the presiding deity is done to the Murugan's Vel only.

There are five Theerthams, or divine water sources, in and around the temple, Saravana Poigai, Lakshmi Theertham, Saniyasi Kinaru (well), Kasi Sunai, and Sathiya Koopam.

Inscriptional evidence:

Inscriptional evidences point out that this temple, being carved out of a hill, was most probably earlier a Jain cave( earlier to this, the Murugan temple existed much before.i.e., during 7th century and converted into jain worship centre by jain monks who influenced the pandya king Koon pandiyan ), which was however later converted into a Hindu temple. Gajapathy, Minister of the Pandya King, was instrumental during the later part of the 8th Century, to complete this conversion.

Festivals:

Brahmotsavam here falls in the Tamil month of Panguni. The Vishnu named Pavalakanivai Perumal, and Lord Muruga is taken in procession to Madurai to celebrate Minakshi'swedding (Chittirai festival), with residents of Madurai dressed in festive clothing. Nakkirar's association with this temple is also celebrated as a festival. Skanda Sashti, the ten day Kartikai festival, Vaikasi Visakam, and the float festival in Thai are other celebrations here. Since Vishnu is here Vaikunta Ekadashi is also celebrated.

Tamil nadu most spritual and beautiful travel to Aarupadai Veedu of Lord Muruga

Thiruthani Murugan Hill Temple :

The beautiful temple of Lord Muruga at Tiruttani crowns a single rock 700 feet above sea level. It is situated amidst a range of hills with a dramatic panoramic view. Three Hundred and Sixty five Steps lead to the shrine, each step representing a day of the year. Puranic Importance Of Lord Murugan's six Padaiveedus, Tirutanikai ranks prominent as the crown jewel of our Lord. As its very name indicates, when we propitiate our Lord in this holy shrine, He blesses us with mental peace and bodily happiness. His righteous indignation towards the asuras for their cruelty is said to have been quelled and cooled at this place which is, therefore, known as Shantipuri (Abode of Peace). As the prayers and desires of the devotees who worship our Lord Tanikesan on this hill with unserving faith and intense devotion are fulfilled in no time, this hill is also called Chanikasalam. When our Lord came to this hill after wedding Goddess Valli at Vallimalai, She implored Him to enlighten Her on the importance and greatness of this hill. In reply, our Lord said that if one worshipped Him with heart and soul for five consecutive days in this hill temple, that person would be blessed with all that is best in this life and hereafter.

• Thiruthani is a town 84 km from Chennai.
• The most famous festival is mirror festival (Kannadi Sevai) where the Lord's six faces are exposed through a mirror and worshipped.
• The Tiruthani hill has 365 steps indicating 365 days of the year.
• Lord Subramanya married Valli.
• Saravana Poikai, Sapta Rishi Teertham, Aadi Krittikai are the area of expertise of Tiruttani.

Legend also has it that Indra the king of the Gods gave his daughter Deivayanai in marriage to Skanda, and along with her presented his elephant Airavatam as part of his dowry offering. Upon Airavatam's departure Indra found his wealth waning. Subramanyar is said to have offered to return the white elephant, however Indra bound by protocol refused to accept a gift that he had made, and insisted that the elephant face his direction, hence the image of the elephant in this temple also faces the east.

Another legend has it that Indra presented a sandal stone as a part of his daughters dowry. The sandal paste made on this stone is applied to the image of Subramanya and the applied paste is said to acquire medicinal value. Legend also has it that Skanda bore the discus thrown by the demon Tarakasuran on his chest, and hence there is a hollow in the chest region of the image of Subramanya in this temple. Legend also has it that Skanda gifted the discus to Vishnu (Please also see Tiruveezhimizhalai and Tirumalper). Skanda is also believed to have imparted knowledge of Tamil to the sage Agasthyar and he is regarded as Veeramurthy, Gnanamurthy and Acharyamurthy in this shrine.

Lord Rama , after putting an end to Ravana, worshipped Lord shiva at Rameswaram and then came to Tiruttani to find perfect peace of mind by worshipping Lord Subrahmanya here. In Dwapara Yuga, Arjuna got the blessings of our Lord here by offering prayers to Him on his way to the South for Teertha Yatra (pilgrimage to take sacred immersion). Lord Vishnu prayed to the Lord and got back His powerful Chakra (sacred wheel), Shanku (sacred conch), which were forcibly seized from Him by Tarakasura, brother of Soorapadma,Lord Brahma propitiated the Lord here at the holy spring known as Brahmasonai after his imprisonment by our Lord for his failure to explain the Pranava ('Om' mantra) and got back his creative function of which he was deprived by our Lord due to his egotistic impudence in neglecting to worship Lord Subrahmanya on his way to Mount Kailasa to worship Lord Siva. The final steps to the eastern entrance.

On worshipping our Lord at Thanikai, the king of snakes Vasuki got his bodily wounds healed, which had been caused during the churning process in the Milky Ocean to secure the Amrita (nectar of immortality) by the devas and asuras when the Mantotra Mountain was used as the churning base and the snake king Vasuki as the rope. Sage Agasthyar Muni (of Potikai Hill) worshipped Lord Muruga at Tanikai when he was blessed with the divine gift of the Tamil language.

TIMINGS OF THE TEMPLE:

Tiruttani Temple located in Tamil Nadu is one of famous temples dedicated to Lord Muruga. Detail Tiruttani Temple Timing is given below. Thousands of people visit the temple daily to have the darshan of the murti of Muruga who alleviates all difficulties. Visiting time is from 5:45 AM in the morning to 9:00 PM. On special day, the temple is open till midnight.

Daily Darshan Timings

First Darshan – 6:00 AM – Vishwaroopa Darshan

Kala Shanti Puja – 8:00 AM

Noon puja – 12:00 PM

Evening Puja – 5:00 PM

Arthajama Puja – 8:00 PM

Last Puja (palliyari puja) – 9:00 PM                                

The puja timings are as provided by the Government endowment board.

FESTIVALS:

Besides the monthly Krittikais which attract a large number of devotees to this shrine, the two outstanding annual festivals are the Aadi Krittikai and 31 December New Year Step Festival. The float festival is celebrated in the month of Aadi, Bhramotsavam in the month of Maasi, during which Valli Kalyanam is celebrated on the 8th day, and the Skanda Sashti is celebrated in the Tamil month of Aippasi.