Tiruchendur Murugan Temple

Tiruchendur is a small town in the Southern part of Tamil Nadu state of India. The town is famous because of Tiruchendur Murugan Temple. The temple is one of the six "arupadai veedu" (six prominent abodes) of Lord Murugan. 

Tiruchendur Beach

The colossal temple is located too close to the seashore. In fact, the sea waves keep touching the walls of the Murugan temple. Tiruchendur beach is a different kind of beach where you cannot find resorts or romantic couples; the beach is full of devotees of Murugan. Even though the actual temple entrance starts from the Rajagopuram (temple tower) near the beach, a long mandapa (with a covered ceiling) runs for about one km. You can find a lot of devotees staying beneath these closed corridors during the night. On both sides of this mandapa, many shops sell pooja-related materials. Also, there are small temples. The temple starts from the Rajagopuram (tower), where you can find a big mandapa (corridor). The temple structure and entrance are a bit confusing. Moreover, you will be troubled by the beggars outside the temple and priests inside the temple. Some shrines, including Lord Ganesha and Murugan, are located outside the mandapa.

Tiruchendur Murugan Temple

The presiding deity of the temple, Lord Murugan, is believed to be many thousands of years old due to its reference in Hindu Puranas and Tamil ancient books. The sanctum enshrines Murugan in the standing posture. He is also called as Senthil, Senthil Andavar, Karthikeya, and Subramanya. In the main shrine, there is a Shiv linga called Jagannatha. It is believed that this Shiv linga and a group of five Shiv lingas (Pancha linga) behind the main shrine were worshipped by Murugan. You can also visit the Pancha Linga in the cave behind the main shrine. Near the main shrine, the icons of Veera Bahu, Veera Mahendra, Ganesha, and Parvati are found.

In the prakara (corridor surrounding the main shrine), there is a relief image of Murugan seated on the peacock and fighting with the Asura. Two separate shrines - one for Valli and another for Devasena (consorts of Lord Murugan) are also found in the corridor. There are a lot of Shiv Linga icons found in the corridor. There are also shrines or sculptures for Veera Kesari, Veera Marthandar, Dakshinamurti, Ganesha, Nataraja and Shanmukha. There is a big shrine for Lord Venkatesa Perumal (Vishnu). Near his shrine, you can find the carvings of Gaja Lakshmi and Ranganatha, along with Sri Devi, Bhoo Devi, and Neela Devi.

Outside the temple, there is a holy well named 'Nazhi Kinaru' where the devotees take bath. There is a small separate cave temple for Valli called ' Valli Guhai'. This is where Valli hid inside the cave as she was afraid of the elephant. (Ganesha took the form of elephant, so that Valli would join his brother Lord Murugan). The small cave temple has the idols of Valli, Dattatreya, Chandra, Shiv Linga and Ganesha. Two kms from the Muruga temple, there is an ancient Shiva temple named 'Shiva Kolundeeswarar'.

Tiruchendur is the site where Murugan eliminated the Asura, as per tradition. In the 17th century CE, the Tiruchendur temple was occupied by the Dutch for a few years. And they even looted some of the icons in the temple.

Ensure that you spend at least one full day getting a complete experience of Tiruchendur.

Happy travelling.

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