Temple

Tirupparaṅkunram is a town in Madurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. Tirupparankundram Murugan Temple is 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'.It is one of the Six Abodes of Lord Karthikeya. An interesting feature of this temple is that of deities of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are facing each other in the main shrine. The temple was first constructed by the Pandya rulers in 8th century AD and the original structure was cut out of rock.Later, during the reign of Nayaks of Madurai (1559 - 1736 AD) the temple was supplemented with beautiful gopurams and beautified. The extensive and beautiful front part (mugha mandapam) was built with 48 ornate pillars carved during the rule of Pandya and Nayaks. It is possible that the worship history of this hill goes far into the past, may be even well before there appeared Hinduism.

Legend

According to the legends, Muruga with his troops rested here after one of his famous six battles against demons, thus saving the Heaven by defeating the evil rakshasa Soorapadman. After the battle, he returned to Thiruparankundram Hill followed by all the liberated deities. Lord Muruga is said to have worshipped Shiva at Thiruparankundram hill as Parangirinathar. Also it is believed that this is where Lord Muruga married Deivayanai, the divine daughter of the king of heaven, Indra, and the marriage happened in the presence of all deities. And so, Murugan Temple in Thiruparankundram became one of the most revered shrines in Tamil Nadu. Up to this day it is considered auspicious to get married here,especially during the festival of marriage - Pankuni Uttiram - in late March.

This temple is part of famous Arupadai Veedu Yatra.

Architecture

Thiruparankundram Temple is built in cave and structural architecture style by early and later pandiyas and Nayakar. 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.

Picture Courtesy: commons.wikimedia.org

Darsan Info

Temple timings:
Morning: 5.00 AM to 1.00 PM
Evening: 4.00 PM to 9.00 PM

Darsan Dresscode

Male devotees have been advised to wear dhoti, shirt, pyjama or pant and shirt while women and girls should wear saris or churidhar or 'pavadai' with half-sari. Devotees wearing lungi, bermudas, jeans and tight-leggings would not be allowed,

Famous Festival

January/February - Theppam Festival, Thai Poosam, MasiMahasivarathiri
March - Panguni Uthiram
April - Chitra Festival, Tamil New Year Day
June - Mottaiarasu vizha, Vaikasi Visakam
July - Ani Voonjal , Ani Muppzha Poojai, Adikarthigai
July/August - Adipooram
September - Avani Moolam, Vinayagar Chathurthi
October/November -  Navarathiri, Saraswathi poojai, Vijayadasami, Iyappasi Pooram, Sri skantha sasti
November/December - Karthigai somavaram, Thirukarthigai
December/January  - Marghazhi poojai, Arudra Darisanam, Vaikunda Ekadasi

Soora Samharam, Chariot Festival and Laksha archana are the other famous festival at Tirupparamkunram

Culture

Tamil Nadu is home to many natural resources, classical arts, classical music, classical literature, Hindu temples of Dravidian architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites.   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. According to the pilgrims, "Sikandar was a friend of Murugan at the time when Murugan was King here".

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Temple Rituals

In Thiruparankundram temple, only a scented paste called 'punugu' is applied on the Lord as it is a cave temple. The Vel (weapon of Lord Muruga) is taken to the Kasi Viswanatha shrine in the hill on the last Saturday of Purattasi month (September-October). This is the only temple where 'abhishek' is performed to Vel. Here more importance is attached to Vel as the Lord came to this place victoriously, after defeating the demon Surpanma with the power of this weapon.

Special Rituals

A golden car has been made for the temple recently and as a prayer commitment devotees can take Lord Muruga in procession on this golden car, after registering in advance.

Additional Info