Kumara Koil Murugan Temple

-

This ancient temple to Murugan known as Kumaran Koyil is located at Padmanabhapuram, home to the palace of the erstwhile Maharaja, on the slopes of the Veli hills. It is located in a commanding position, visible for miles around.

Legend has it that Murugan married Valli here and hence the name Velimalai, Manamalai or Kalyanamala.

Kumarakovil is a very ancient temple, as attested by the massive sculpture of Lord Murugan in a style dating from the Buddhist period. Buddhism probably flourished from 650-850 CE in Kerala. However, the available inscriptions about the temple date from from the 18th century CE only.

The temple is accessed through a flight of forty steep steps. Lord Murugan graces the devotees with His consort Valli.  He is faces the east and said to be facingSthanumalayan (Lord Siva) of Suchindram. The idol of Lord Murugan is a monolithic sculpture measuring eight feet and eight inches in height. Its long ears indicate that it belongs to the Buddhist period. Goddess Valli who adorns the sanctum is six and a half feet tall. Nandipadam and Murugan Padam on the top of the hill are believed to be the imprints of Nandi and Murugan.

Veli Malai Kumarakoil

Kalyana Vinayakar, who aided His brother in His marriage with Valli is in the right side of the entrance to the inner circumambulatory path. On the western circumambulatory path there is a shrine for Kasi Lingam and on the southern circumambulatory path there are shrines for Mahadevar, Sivakami and Chadikeswarar. The unique feature of this temple is that there is a shrine for Daksha, the maternal grandfather of Lord Murugan.

The sacred tree of the temple is a venerated vengai tree that is a hundred years old. Here, Arumuga Nayinar (Lord Murugan) is flanked by both His consorts, Valli and Deivayanai. This temple is associated with the legends of Valli’s marriage with Murugan. This is said to be the birth place of Valli.

Valli guhai is on the top of the hill which is two kilometers off the main temple, Valli sunai, a pond where Valli took bath, Valli colai, the millet field that Valli guarded, and kizhavan colai is where Murugan came in the disguise of an old man to woo Valli. The protocol of worship offered here is Kerala Tantram.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The True Identity of YAHWEH: A Shocking Revelation

-
Image
The cult of YHWH as god of metallurgy originated among semi-nomadic copper smelters between the Bronze and Iron Age, suggests biblical scholar: And he was not worshipped only by Jews.  A Short History of God Yahweh  TIMNA – Around 3,200 years ago, the great empires around the Mediterranean and the Middle East suddenly imploded. The Egyptians retreated from Canaan and the copper mines of Timna in the Negev, skulking back to the banks of the Nile. And in the arid wastes of southern Canaan, a new power arose.  The Timna mines were taken over by semi-nomadic tribes, which  set up a mining operation that dwarfed  the previous Egyptian industry.  This new desert kingdom would leave its mark on the main building at Timna: the  Egyptian temple of Hathor , protector of miners. The new masters smashed the effigy of the Egyptian deity – leaving the fragments to be found by archaeologists more than 3,000 years later – and set up over the ruins of the temple a tent sanctuary, jud
Read more

Vishnumaya Swami - The story

-
Image
Shiva while on a hunt happened to hear a sweet voice in the jungle. He was surprised to find that it belonged to a tribal girl, "Kulivaka" (Pronounced as Koolivaaka) - a girl of immense beauty. The solitude in that forest area called Kuli van, and the wild beauty of the forest girl, made the Lord lustful. He informed Kulivaka of his wish and told her to wait for him until he returned from his hunt. God Shiva as hunter Kulivaka, who was a devotee of Parvati realized that mating with lord would bring forth the wrath of the goddess upon her; but she feared the wrath of Shiva also in case she refused him. She prayed to her Goddess to save her from the predicament. Parvati, pleased with her innocence appeared before her and revealed her true identity. In her previous birth Kulovaka was Manaswini, a servant in the retinue of Parvati. One day she happened to breast-feed Ganesha who was a baby at that time. Parvati didn't appreciate the fact of a servant breast-feedi
Read more

The Vedas refer to not 33 crore Devatas but 33 types

-
Image
The Vedas refer to not 33 crore Devatas but 33 types (Koti in Sanskrit) of Devatas.  The number 33 comes from the number of Vedic gods explained by Yajnavalkya in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad – the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, Indra and Prajapati. (Chapter I, hymn 9, verse 2) They are: 8-Vasu, 11-Rudra, and 12-Aaditya, 1-Indra and 1-Prajaapati. VASUS  8. Vasus are ~ Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Moon, Sun, and Star.Elemental gods such as Vayu, Agni, Antariksh and Dyaus, the Sky God. ( Olympian Gods). They are called Vasus, because they are abode of all that lives, moves or exists. (also mentioned in Mahabharat, 1/66/18). RUDRAS  Once, the deities went to sage Kashyapa after being tormented by the demons. They complained to him about the misdeeds of the demons, who also happened to be their step brothers. Sage Kashyapa became extremely furious, when he heard about the misdeeds of his sons - the demons. To protect the deities from his sons,
Read more