Aarupdadai Veedu – A B B Y N S T A . C O M

Swaminathar Temple, Pazhamudhircholai

Pazhamudhircholai, one of 6 abodes of the tamil god Murugan, is located 25 km north of Madurai, and the temple of Murugan is located atop of the hill here, surrounded by beautiful forests. Unfortunately I got no pictures from this temple, as we were running out of charge for our camera. Hopefully I’ll visit this temple again 😉

We went to this temple after Trichy, and right before going to Azhagar Kovil, followed by Meenakshi Amman Kovil in Madurai.

The legend says this was the place where the tamil poet Avvaiyar was tested by Murugan, when he was a child. The well-known “Sudda Pazham Venduma, Sudaatha Pazham Venduma?” (do you want the roasted or unroasted fruit?) is from the conversation between these 2.

Lord Murugan of Pazhamudhircholai is praised in many tamil sangam literature, like Silapathikaram, Ettuthogai. This is also the only temple, where Lord Murugan stand with a single-faced posture, with both of his consents, Valli and Deivanai.

~ AJ

Arulmigu Subramanya Swami Temple, Thirupparankuram

Thirupparankunram is a town in the district of Madurai, and this was the temple we visited after Meenakshi Temple, that is located in Madurai.

Thirupparankunram is the first of the 6 Abodes of lord Murugan, the Arupadai Veedu, but this was the 5th of Arupadai Veedu that we went to. This is believed to be the place where lord Murugan married Goddess Deivanai, the daughter of Indra. The temple here is actually a cave-temple, situated 1050 feet above sea level, built in a hillock. The temple was built by king Maravarman Sundara Pandyan in the 8th century CE, though the temple is believed to be much elder, from the 6th century, where the Murugan temple was converted to a worship place for Jainists by Jain monks, and then later reversed to Hinduism in the 8th century, where the Pandya king built it.