Madurai is not a holy abode of Meenakshi Amma, it is also the land of a very famous and rare temple of Lord Kartikeya. Not far from the colorful city of Madurai, this holy abode lies in the town called Thirupparamkunram. This rock-cut shrine of Murugan is known as Thirupparamkunram Murugan temple.
The Thirupparamkunram temple (also Murugan temple) in Madurai is a piece of the South’s incredible architecture and splendorous beauty. It is known to be built by cutting the giant heavy rocks. The temple got its structure in a typical Dravidian style and is expected to be more than 1200 years old.
The temple houses Lord Murugan (a Kartikeya avatar). Kartikeya is the elder son of Lord Sankara and Goddess Parvati. The temple is one in all the sacred-six shrines of Lord Murugan in India. Lord Murugan is also known with other names and thus the temple is also named against him as Arulmugu Subramaniya Swamy Temple, Murugan temple and Thirupparamkunram temple.
All about Temple Complex
The temple is an exemplar of rock-cut architecture. The beautiful temple is well stood with vibrant color combinations, intricate drawing, and paintings on the temple walls. The number of carved tall pillars of Asthana Mandapam leads the way to Rajagopuram which is the must-seen part of the shrine. The Rajagopuram of this temple is 46 meters high which is seven tiered.
The deities inside the temple are God Murugan with wives Devayani and Valli sitting in the grabhagriha of the temple. There are other idols of Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu and Ganesh in the main shrine. The idols of Vishnu and Shiva (in lingam form) are facing each other which is a rare sight in any Hindu shrine. The temple’s 150 feet tall Rajagopuram (main entrance tower) is the specialty of this place.
There are three spacious halls namely Kambathadi Mandapam, Ardha Mandapam, and Mahamandapam in the way to grabhagriha. A small pond is there outside the complex. The worshippers feed poha or salt to the fishes inside the temple. Apart from that, there are much more interesting things to see in the temple.
Temple timings and Puja-Archanas
The temple is open for darshan from early morning at 5.30 a.m. to an afternoon at 1.00 p.m. The temple dwars are then closed for the next 3 hours and opened in the evening of 4.00 p.m. to late evening at 9.00 p.m. The pujas and aartis are performed to the deities in different timings eight times in a day.
The temple celebrates a major annual festival of the Skanda Shasti festival in every October-November month. It is believed that on this day, Lord Murugan took the life of the evil Surapadma. This festival is celebrated with great pomp and gaiety in all the six temples devoted to Murugan. Apart from this, other festivals dedicated to the lord are also celebrated majestically. A grand celebration called Brahmotsavam is also organized every year.
source: Alan Vel
Mythology
Once there was an asura Surapadma who attained the powers to rule the Earth as he wishes. Surapadma started to use his powers in the wrong way and captured all the universe. He also defeated Indra Dev and wished for his wife Indrani. In this case, Lord Indra came to seek the help of Murugan. Murugan (Kartikeya) tried to solve it out through peace and send his commander but the devil refused. This created the situation of war.
Lord Murugan went to fight with Surapdama. Both had a disastrous war for 5 days. On the 6th day, evil took the form of a mango tree in which God split into two using his divine weapon Vel. One-piece turned to peacock and the second one took the form of a cock. The god took the peacock as his divine vehicle and the cock as a flag. The Lord Indra to show his gratitude married his daughter Devayani to the Lord. The Murugan Temple is said to have been that place where that divine marriage happened.
History of Murugan Temple
The temple has already been mention in various ancient texts. This hilltop temple was shaped by cutting rocks of large size. The idols of the temple are also shaped this way.
Talking about the temple’s history, it goes back to before 6th century A.D. It is said that the temple was first a Jain cave which was turned into a Jain Dham during the Pandya rule. In the later years under the direction of a minister of Pandya, it was transformed into a Hindu shrine. It was around the 8th century when the large halls with pillars were built in the temple. This way the great Murugan temple stood up.
Today the Thirupparamkunram Temple is administered by a body of State Government of Tamil Nadu.
Reaching Thirupparamkunram
The distance of Thirupparamkunram from Madurai is around 5 miles. The roadway is the only way to reach this place. From Madurai shared buses, autos and cabs are available to this temple place.
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