One of the six places of worship dedicated to Lord Muruga, the shore temple of Arulmigu Subramanya Swami at Tiruchendur
has a unique significance as the culmination of the concept of Muruga.
With its lofty tower of about 140 feet, it has a holy past dating back
to 2,000 years, if not earlier. References are available in such texts
as Purananooru, Silappadikaram, Tirumurugatrupadai, Adi Sankarar Sri
Subramanya Bhjangam, Kanda Puranam, Tiruppukazh, Tiruchendur Pillai
Tamil, etc.
As one of the foremost spiritual centres, the temple has been an attraction for Hindus for ages. In the Tirumurugatrupadai,
a classic of the third century AD, six chosen spots in The Tamil soil
were referred to by Nakkirar as of more than ordinary sanctity fo the
worshipo of Lord Muruga, among which Tiruchendur is number two. This was
the only temple of Lord Muruga located on the seashore. His shrines are
always situated amid mountains and forests, for these regions are
considered dear to Lord
Murugan. The variance here is possibly due to Muruga's divine
mission to free the devas, and the vanquishing of evil in the form of
Surapadma and his mighty hosts in Veera Mahendram, their mid-ocean
fortress. The Tamils have ever since been celbrating the event as an
annual festival during Skanda Sashti.
At
this spot, Lord Muruga was said to have emcamped before and after
vanquishing the asuras and worshipped Siva at the shrine Mayan had built
for Him. The Kanda Madana Parvata, the red sandstone rock of
this coast received its foundations. A lofty gopuram also rose beside
it. A part of the cliff was bored into to form the holy sanctum of
Subramaniam.
The red sandy rock round about was further carved into, and the rolling
hills of sand moved away to gain more space. The second and thrid praharas
were then desinged and brought into being. The Pandya and the Chera,
their vassals, improved the temple. Maharaja Marthandavarma of
Travancore Samasthanam endowed the very first Udaya Marthanda Kattalai of each morning and others followed in the nine aradhanas of the day.
As time rolled on, the effect of the sea and its
salt-laden air begain to tell upon the inferior sandstones used in the
original construction. A noble sannyasin, Mauna Swami, immediately took
up the renovation and was followed by two others, Kasi Swami and Arumuga
Swami. The work continued during the course of 72 years. The sannyasins
were wedded to poerty, but nevertheless funds poured in for the
construction of a worthy temple to stand for all times.
The temple was constructed anew in all its details and kumbhabhishekam was performed in 1941. The temple and its gopurams of nine floors are
a landmark visible at sea for twelve miles.
Lord
Muruga's association with Tiruchendur is significant. Tiruchendur, a
sacred and prosperous town of victory, was also known as Tiruchen-Chendiloor
in the Tamil classics. The Vasanta Mandapam is a recent noble edifice standing on 120 columns and with a central porch. The Ananda Vilas
Mandapam stands on a raised sandy promontory majestically
overlooking the sea. It is a mandapam of 16 pillars worked in black
granite. The Shanmukha
Vilasam, a magnificent mandapam of intricate stone plinths and
columns, is the frontal adjunct to the main temple. It houses an ornate
mandapam
of four pillars in the centre, and this touches the ceiling through
its elaborately carved and majestic pillars and supports the entire Shanmukha Vilasam.
The main entrance of this temple opens into the first temple prahara known as Sivili Mandapam.
It is a series of four long corridors running round the inner second
prahara flanked on either side by familiar rows of columns of yalis. The Sivili Mandapam
produces a fine effect of symmetry and randeur. There is a Vishnu
shrine of Lord Venkatesa on the norther prahara. Shrines to Vishnu
withing ancient Saivite temples are common in South India as in
Chidambaram, Rameswaram, Perur, Tiruchengode, Sikkil, etc. This Vishnu
shrine is hollowed out of the rock itself.
The principal sanctum of this great temple is
Subramaniam, the Lord of Senthil. The figure is seen in a standing
posture. The principal sanctum has all the full complement of mandapas.
The temple Mela Gopuram, a massive structure of nine storeys, is a striking landmark. The stupas
at
the top are nine in number in consonance with thenumber of storeys
as a general rule with such temples. This gopuram is said to have been
constructed
350 years ago by Desikamoorthy Swami of the Tiruvaduthurai Math. It
is remarkable that from the sixth storey upwards to the ninth, the
plaster
on the walls is preserved and is beautified with fresco paintings.
According to Mr. C. Subramaniam, an art lover
and managing trustee of Muthu Vadivammal Trust, there are four lithic
inscriptions of the Pandya times collected together and planted in a
line. Two of them belong to Pandya Varaguna Maran of about 875 AD, the
third of Pandya Mara Varman of about 1282 AD and the fourth of Vikrama
Pandya Deva. The inscriptions of Varaguna speak of his grant of 1,400
gold coins to the temple. There is a mention of a shrine to Nakkira
Deva, which speaks highly of the literary advancement of the period.
A little removed from the main shrine and on
the northern seashore under a cliff of overhanging hardened sandstone
there is a picturesque cave carved out of it, which is famous as
Valli's Cave. Two images are installed there, one dedicated to Valli and
another to Dattatreya. The king of a clan of hunters and his men had
followed the flight of Valli with Muruga, and here they were confronted
by the divine consorts who showered their grace upon the pursuers. The
frontal shrine has been embellished by a stone mandapam, the walls of
which have paintings of Nambi Rajan.
Almost embedded in a rolling high sand dune on the beach lies a remarkable spring known as Skanda Pushparani -- the Nazhik Kinaru. It is a natural phenomenon and is said to have sprung up as Lord Shanmukha planted His lance -- the Vel -- on the spot.
There is a remarkable spring of fresh crystal water in a stone receptacle known as Nazhik Kinaru.
It is a foot square and inset with the larger
well. Another water source is one of saltish and highly sulphurous
smelling and muddy-looking water. This swells up during the day and is
pumped out
daily so as not to allow it to overflow into the smaller one. A
bath in the sea and in this well is considered to be of much spiritual
merit.
Except for the sanctum and mahamandapam, the entire temple structure is of recent origin according to researchers.
The utsavar idols of Lord Muruga, with consorts
worshipped by Kattabomman are kept at the first prahara in the northern
side, which is characteristic of temple iconography of the 19th
century. It is said that Kattabomman used to hear the bell sound after
the puja was over at the temple by way of a chain of mandapams built
along a distance of about 50 miles to his royal seat at
Panchalankurichi.
The kumbhabhishekam of the temple,
performed once in twelve years, is slated for 5 July 1995 and the temple
is being given a facelift. According to Mr. Uvari A. Kirubanidhi,
Chairman of the Trustees' Board of the Temple, renovation work costing
more than Rs. one crore are under progress. He said that a new dhyana mandapam
has been constructed with an outlay of Rs.10 lakkhs adjacent to Valli's
Cave. Mr. Kirubanidhi said the temple management has set up a power
station to augment the power supply in the town by spending Rs.25 lakh.
The beach will be illuminated by installing neon lights and it has been
proposed to construct a big choultry in a three-phased manner at an
outlay of Rs. 84 lakhs to accommodate the devotees free of cost. Every
day 30,000 devotees visit the temple.
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