Tirupparankundram, a hill five miles southwest
of Madurai, is the fourth pilgrimage site of Muruga. A cave temple
dedicated to the element of earth and mentioned in various classical
Tamil texts as the 'Southern Himalaya' where the gods assemble,
Tirupparankunram is also mentioned in legend as 'the place where the sun
and moon abide'. Murugan was married to Devasena upon the hill and for
many centuries the Tamil people have considered it the most auspicious
place for their own marriages, especially during the time of the Pankuni
Uttiram, the festival of marriage held in late March. Besides the
fantastic temple to Murugan on the hill, there is also a Muslim shrine
dedicated to 'Sekunder' (al-Sikandar or Alexander the Great) who is
associated with Murukan by the Muslim pilgrims. "Sikandar was a friend
of Murugan at the time when Murugan was King here," they say.
Tirupparankundram is situated three miles southeast of Madurai on the main railway line. It is one of the Aru Padai Veedugal
or six sacred places selected by Lord Subrahmanya for his abode. The
importance of this temple is that here was celebrated the marriage of
Lord Subrahmanya with the daughter of Indra, Devayanai.
Long, long ago, when Lord Subrahmanya was
staying at Kanda Verpu, the two daughters of Lord Maha Vishnu, Amrita
Valli and Sundara Valli, cherished the desire of becoming the consorts
of Subrahmanya. With this aim in mind they both went to Saravana Poigai
and commenced austere penance to fulfil their desires.
Pleased with their prayer and worship, Lord
Subrahmanya appeared before them and told Amrita Valli, "You will be
brought up by Indra as his daughter and I shall marry you in due
course." Her younger sister Sundara Valli was also graced with a
similar blessing. She was born to sage Sivamuni and brought up by Nambi,
the headman of Veddas.
Amrita Valli took the form of a female child and
went to Mount Meru, the abode of Indra, and told him, "I am the
daughter of Maha Vishnu and the responsibility of looking after me has
been entrusted to you." On hearing this, Indra became very happy and
directed Airavatam, his white elephant, to take care of the child.
The elephant with all love brought her up and
affection and she attained the age of marriage in course of time. Hence
she came to be known as Devayanai, one who was brought up by the
heavenly elephant of Indra (yānai in Tamil means elephant).
The six sons of sage Parasara were cursed to become fishes in the
Saravana Poigai. On request for redemption, these six boys were ordered
to pray to Lord Subrahmanya.
When they got his darshan, they could get redemption. It was also
made known to them that Lord Subrahmanya would come to Tirupparankunram
after vanquishing the demon Surapadma. Anxiously they waited for the
arrival of Subrahmanya.
When the mission of Subrahmanva to vanquish Surapadma was over at
Tiruchendur, on his way, he came to this spot followed by all the devas
and heavenly beings whom he had released from the untold miseries caused
by Surapadma.
On his arrival at Tirupparankunram, the sons of Parasara received
Subrahmanya and, at their request, he consented to stay there. He at
once ordered Viswakarma to construct a beautiful abode for himself, for
the devas and for others.
He also suggested to the heavenly architect to build roads and
erect a city around them. Indra, the king of the angels, desired to get
his daughter Devayanai married to Subrahmanya, as a mark of his
gratitude for relieving him and the devas from the depredations of the
demon Surapadma.
He expressed his desire to Brahma and Vishnu who were present
there. They were only too glad to hear the proposal. When they
communicated the desire of Indra to Lord Subrahmanya he readily agreed
to it and said: "Devayanai has been praying at Saravana Poigai in the
Himalayas for this happy marriage. Now the time has come for its being
solemnised." As Subrahmanya agreed to this marriage, Indra sent a
messenger to bring his wife Indrani and daughter Devayanai from Mout
Meru.
The marriage took place at Tirupparankunram, after the victory of
Subrahmanya over Surapadma. All arrangements for marriage were made and
the marriage was performed at the Tirupparankunram Temple. All the
devas, Siva and Parvati attended the marriage and blessed Subrahmanya
and Devayanai. Since then, the temple has become a very famous abode of
Subrahmanya.
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