Tiruchendur Murugan - Irandam Padai Veedu

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Triuchendur(Irandam Padai Veedu):

 

Tiruchendur is situated at 36 miles from Tirunelveli. Tiruchendur is also called as TiruSeerAlaiVai((the one having tide of Mannar Guda in the shore; Seer - with force, Alai - tide), Jayanti Puram(Since Muruga won Soorapadman at Tiruchendur, Jayanti - Victory), Veera Bagu Pattinam and Senthil.

The Muruga killed Soorapadman who was in the form of Monga tree(Mamaram) is said to be Manappadu which is 6miles from Tiruchendur. Even now no mango tree is in this place and even if anybody tries to plant mango trees they fail.

And Tiruchendur is the place where Lord Muruga did Siva Pooja and for the pooja he made Skanda Pushkarani Teertham(Naali Kinaru and it is in the south of the temple) using the Vel. That is why the Moolavar is in the Thavakkolam.

This temple is believed to be built by Deva Dachan Viswakarma for the first time.

Thoondukai Vinayagar Temple:

 

On the entrance to the temple from the town the sannidi of "Thoondukai Vinayagar" is there and it is believed that this Vinayagar gives a lot of boon to the devotees. Devotees coming to Tiruchendur temple must first worship Thoondukai Vinayagar and then they should go to the temple. It is believed that, the landscape from Thoondukai Vinayagar temple to the sea shore is highly devine.

On the way to the temple from Toondukai Vinayagar(about half a kilometer) there is a big mandapa made of stone. Then we reach the temple which has three prakaras and having a Raja Gopuram having 9 stages. It is being told that the construction of the Raja Gopura was started by Desiga Moorthy Swamigal of Thiruvavaduthurai Adeenam 300 years before and at that time Muruga came in the form of a young man and gave Viboothi(Tiru Neeru) to the workers and told them that it should be built such that the devotees coming to the temple must first reach Thoondukai Vinayagar temple and then Murugan temple. After the work was over in the told manner the Viboothi given to the workers changed into money according to the work done.

Prakaras In Tiruchendur:

Prakara 3(The outer Prakara):

 

In the outer prakara, on the North side of the Temple there is Valli Gugai(cave) in which there is a Sannidi for Valli. In front of Valli Gugai there is a mandpa made of 16 Pillars. and the incidents of Valli Kalyanam like Murugan in the form of an old Siva Bakthar, Vinayaga in Elephant form, Valli Kalyanam are carved on the walls of the Gugai. Near this cave "Katru Vaarithi Mandapa" is there.

In the western side of outer prakara Vasantha Mandapa is there and in the Southern side Sanmuga Vilasa Mandapa is there where the figures of Arupadai Veedu are drawn. There is a Teerta here called "Vadanaaramba Teertam(Kadarkarai teertam)" and this is a kadarkarai teertam. It is believed that the devotees coming here should first take bath in Vadanaaramba teertam first and then they have to take bath in Pushkarani Terertam.

And it is believed that near the temple, on the sea shore there are 24 teertas and they denote the 24 letters of Gayathri Mantra.

Prakara 2:

 

If we move through the Sanmuga Vilasa Mandapa, we acn reach the Second prakara called "Sivili Mandapa". On the pillars of this mandapa, icons of Bala Subramaniar, Sanmugar, Natarajar, Vinayagar and Dakshina Moorthy are there. In the Devastana office in this prakara, the idol of Sanmugar worshipped by Veera Pandiya Katta Bomman which has many minute arts in ti is there. In the west of this prakara, sannidis of Siddi Vinayagar, Sahasra Lingam, Soora Samharar(this is a bas relief made of single stone), Anma Nathar, Manonmani Amman Banukeswarar, Soma Sundarar, Meenakshi Amman, Sri Moolanathar, Uma Mageswari sameda Thiru Kalathi Eswarar(Vayu Lingam), Unnamulai Amman Sameda Arunachaleswarar(Theyu Lingam), Jambugeswarar(Appu Lingam), Vanmeeganathar(Prithvi Lingam), Arunagiri nathar and Vallaba Ganapathi(Mela Vaayil Vinayagar) are there.

On the North of Second prakara, there are sannidis for Venkatachalapathi and Santana Krishna.

On carving the rock of Gandamaadana Parvatha in the north side of the temple, bas reliefs of Gaja Lakshmi and Palli Konda Ranganatha Perumal along with Brahma, Boodeve, Neela Devi, Gaudamar, Markandeyar, Viswaksenar and Garuda are there.

Prakara 1:

 

The way from the south of second prakara to the first prakara i gaurded by Veerakesari and Veeramarthandar of nava Veeras.

When we enter the first prakara we can see Kumara Vidanga Peruman(also called as Jayanthi Nathar) with Valli and Deivayanai.

In the south-west of first prakara, there is a sannidi for Valli and in the North-west there is a sannidi for Devayanai. Both these temples are built using marbles.

In the west of this prakara, sannidis of Sankara Narayanar, Kasi Viswanathar, Visalakshi, Veda Pureeswarar, Tiruvaadapureeswarar and naga nathar are there.

And in the north, sannidis of Manicka Vasagar, Karaikkazl Ammaiyar, Sivakami Amman Sameda Natarajar, Saneeswarar lonely(there is no sannidi for nava grahas in Tiruchendur) and Bairavar are there.

Maha Mandapa - Arn Muga Nayinar - Moolavar - Chendur Andavar:

 

From the first prakara, when we enter the Maha mMandapa, we can see Valli Devasena Sameda Arumuga Peruman who is also called Arumuga Nayinar and this sannidi is built in such a way that it can be seen from the Sanmuga Vilasa Mandapa.

If we move towards the west of this sannidi, we can reach the sannidi of Soora Samhara Moorthi(Bala Murugan), standing towards the east.

It is believed that Tiruchendur Andavan has all the three forms of Sath, Sith and Anandam. Among these normally Sath denotes Sivan, Sith denotes Sakthi and Anandam denotes Murugan.

Among the Arupadai Veedu Murugas only Palani Murugan and Tiruchendur Murugan have the name Andavar presiding(Palani Andavar and Tiruchendur Andavar) since they two have the Thava Kolam . Here Tiruchendur Andavar(Moolavar) has Sadamudi and has taken Thuravu kolam(Dyana Position). Since the Moolavar is in Thuravu Kolam salt and Tamarind are not mixed in the food provided to him. So mostly Sakkarai Pongal is kept as Padayal. But since Arumugaperuman is with Valli - Deivayanai, all the foods are kept to him as padayal like after the completion of Arumuga Archanai six kind of Nivedanas - Milk, Payasam, Coconut rice, Puliyadarai, Kara Pongal, Sakkarai Pongal, Curd rice are kept to him.

The Artha Mandapa before Garbagraha of Bala Murugan is gaurded by Nava-Veeras. And Since Veera Bagu Thevar is the kaval Deivam of Tiruchendur, it is also called as Veera Bagu Pattinam. For this reason, here pooja is first made to Veera Bagu Thevar and then to the moolavar.

And it is believed that since Tiruchendur Murugan is "Alangara Piriyar", he is standing here as "Vishnu Amsa".

If we go by the right side of Murugan sannidi through Paambarai way we can see Panja Lingas which were worshipped by Muruga. These Lingas denote Pancha Bootas. Behind the Moolavar there is Sury Lingam. On the right wall of Senthil Nayagar there is Chandira Lingam. On the right side wall of Arumuga Peruman, there is Anma Lingam.

Pooja here is performed by Bramanas called "Trisvadandiras" who are believed to be brought by Muruga Peruman for his pooja.

Living places of Tiruchendur Murugan:

 

According to Saiva Siddantha, Tiruchendur Murugan is believed to live in 8 parts of the Maha Mandapa of this temple - Surya(Sun), Chandra(Moon), Pancha Boothas(Sand, Water, Air, Agni and Sky) and Anma(Soul).

Prasada:

The prasada in Tiruchendur is distributed in the leaf of Paneer tree. It is believed that Vedas have taken the form of Paneer tree. And it is believed that Viswamitra maharishi got cured from Kunma disease by taking this prasada. In Subramanya Bujangam(Which was written by Adhi Sankarar in Tiruchendur) the mahimai of Tiruchendur prasada is given - "This prasada has the capacity to cure - TB, Fits, Leprosy, Shaya, Diabetes, Fever and kanma and by taking this prasada one can get rid of evil effects by Bhootas and Preda Paisasas".

Tula-Baram:

Here Tula-Baram Kannikai is also taken. Devotees can give Kalkandu, Sugar, Banana, Dates, Rice, Coins and Vibuthi as Kanikkai.

Specialities:

 

Since Tiruchendur Murugan was worshipped by Deva Guru Vyala Bhagavan this is a popular shetra for Vyalan.

Adhi Sankarar wrote Subramanya Bujangan in Tiruchendur and got rid from TB(Kasa Noi).

Kumara Gurubara swamigal was born on Sri Kailasam which is 18miles from Tirunelveli. He was dumb upto the age of 5 and so his parents took him to Tiruchendur temple. One day when he was sleeping in Tiruchendur temple Lord Muruga came in the dream of the child and gave the ability to speak. Immiediately the child sung the song Kandar Kalivenba on Muruga which is said to be the mini Kanda Puranam and is said to have the Saram of Saiva Siddantam.

A devotee called Pagali Kuttar got rid of his stomach pian by singing "Pillai Tamil" on Tiruchendur Murugan. Even today Pillai Tamil is sung in the temple along with Tirupugazh.

Before some 300 years, a devotee called Vendrimalai was working in the Tiruchendur Madapalli and he was punished severly for his small mistake. So he got very sad and attempted to suicide since he was doing the work as a service to Murugan. At that time Muruga saved him and gave him the capacity to poems. He is the poet who sung "Tiruchendur Stala puranam".

Festival - Soora Samharam:

 

There is golden Chariot for Chendur Andavan and Kanda Sasti and Soora Samharam are celebrated grantly here. Nearly 5 lakh people come from tghrough out Tamil Nadu to see Soora Samharam every year.

Vaikasi Visakam is celebrated grantly here.

Muruga gave Nataraja Darisa to Arunagirinathar in Tiruchendur denoting that "Muruga and Siva are same". In the seventh day celebration of Masi month, Muruga will take the form of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheswara and Sadashiva denoting that all the five works(Aindu Tozhilgal) - Padaittal, Kattal, Azhlittal, Maraittal, Arulal are performed by him which denotes that he is Paramporul. During this day, in Golden Chariot, Muruga will give Arumuga darisana in the front side and will take nataraja form in the back side of the Charriot.

Accomodation in Tiruchendur:

 

There is a lot of lodges maintained by Devastana and private devotes near the temple.

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