SUBRAMANIYASWAMY TEMPLE, TIRUTTANI, TIRUVALLUR DISTRICT-TAMILNADU Introduction
Subramaniya Swamy Temple, Tiruttani is the fifth of the sixabodes of Lord Murugan. The temple is maintained by the Hindu Religious andEndowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the Tiruttani hill inTiruvallur district of northern Tamil Nadu. It is the place where Lord Murugan married Valli. Thishill temple has 365 steps, representing the 365 days of the year. It is a place whereArunagirinathar, who sang the Thiruppugazh , composed the hymns. It was also sung by MuthuswamyDiksathar. The temple is also known asThanigai Murugan Temple. Legends Tiruthani is the place where Lord Muruga, after fighting withSurapatman, who was causing endless suffering to the gods, removed the sorrowof the gods, fought with the hunters as a game to marry Valli, and sat down after his angersubsided. Therefore, this place is known as Thanigai. It is the place where the gods arefree from fear, the sages are freed from the enmity of lust and delusion, andthe place where the suffering, anxiety, illness, poverty, etc. ofthe devotees are alleviated, and it is also known as Tiruthani. Murugan isseated on a separate hill facing east in this place. The Puranas say that inthe Treta Yuga, on hisway back to Rameshwaram to perform atonement for the sins he had committedafter defeating Ravana in battle at Sri Lanka, Lord Shiva asked him to worshipLord Muruga at Tiruttani and attain peace of mind. The Puranas say that inthe Dwapara Yuga, onhis way to the southern region, Arjuna visited the temple and receivedblessings. After worshipping LordMurugan at Tiruttani, Thirumal regained his wheel and conch, which were stolen by Tarakasuran.The Vishnu Theertham, which he created, is located on the hill to the west ofthe temple. In Tiruttani, Brahmaworshipped Lord Muruga and regained his creative powers. He also regained his wealth, which hadbeen stolen by Surapatman, by the grace of Murugan. On the way up the mountainfrom the foothills to the east, halfway up the mountain steps, on the northside, there is the Brahma Theertham created by Brahma. It is called BrahmaSunai. The Brahmaswara temple is located on its southern bank. Indra worshipped LordMurugan here to getback the treasures like Sanganithi, Padmanithi, Kamadhenu, Chintamani,Karpakadaru etc. that were stolen from the heavens by Surapatman. Indra planted and grew ablue lotus flower ina pond on the south side of the Tiruttanikai hill and used its flowers toworship Lord Murugan at three times of the day, morning, evening and noon. Similarly, the LordGanesha that he established, worshipped and blessed is called Chengazhuneer Ganesha. Theblue lotus flower pond created by him is located opposite the southern gate ofthe hill temple as a theertham called Indra Neela Chunai. It is also called Kalkara Teertham.The water of this teerthamis exclusively used for the immersion of the Lord, the Thirumadaipalli and forperforming puja. Therefore, we should not use this holy water in anyother way except to worship it from a distance. Here, Lord Murugaworshipped Lord Thirunandith Devar and received instructions on the SaivaSiddhanta techniques that describe the three elements of God, life and death, namely, Pathi, Cowand Passion. The river called “Shivadhatthva Amritham” that Lord Murugasummoned for him is now called Nandi River. The cave where Lord Nandi performeda yagna to obtain the grace of Lord Muruga is called Nandi Cave. When the gods churned the ocean of Thiruparkadal, theychurned the Mandara Mountain as a mat and the serpent Vasuki as a rope. When they churned it in this way, many scars, ulcers andwounds appeared on the body of the serpent Vasuki, causing great suffering. After bathing regularly in a pond every day andworshipping Lord Murugan, the serpent Vasuki was cured from the wounds. Here, afterworshipping Lord Murugan, sageAgastya attained the knowledge of the three Tamil languages andthe clarity of Shiva's knowledge. The Agastya Theertham he created is locatedto the south-east of Adisesha Theertham. History References to this temple are found in the Thirumurukatrupadhi,composed by the Sangam poet Nakkhirar. The temple was maintained by theVijayanagara kings and local landowners. Thirutani Murugan Temple was built by the Cholas in the 9thcentury AD. It is the most important Murugan temple in the ThondaiMandalam region of Tamil Nadu. Mountain ranges The mountain range extends on both sides of this temple hill.The mountain on the northis white and is called Pacharisi Mountain, and the mountain on thesouth is black and is called Punnakku Mountain. If you look at the mountain from the eastern bank of thetemple, it looks like a garland arranged in a curve. The view is very beautiful.Therefore, Arunagirinathar has praised it as the beautiful Thirutthani Mountain. Saravana Poigai The famous Kumara Theertham temple, also known as Saravana Poigai,is located at the foot of the mountain. Since there are many monasteries aroundthis temple, it is called the Matha village. Lord Muruga incarnated as a child to the women of Karthigaiin the Saravana Poigai Theertham. It is believed that those who bathe in theSaravana Poigai Theertham of Tiruttani get rid of their physical ailments andsins. After bathing in the Saravana Poigai, they reach the hill temple throughthe stairs. During the Aadi Krithigai festival, the procession with festivedecorations arrives at the hill temple and goes around in the Theppakkulam. Saptarishi Theertham Seven sages, including Vasishta, who are known asSaptarishis, worshipped Lord Murugan here. The place where they worshipped ison the southern side of the hill. The seven sunais and the virgin temple theybuilt are here. This place is now known as the Seven Sunais Virgin Temple.Surrounded by dense forests and full of greenery, this place is a peacefulplace where the sun does not enter, and is a place suitable for penance andmeditation. T Temple structure This temple is located on a hill called Thanigai Hill. Thistemple has a five-tiered gopuram and four complexes. There are many waterbodies associated with this temple. In this temple, Lord Murugan is depicted ashaving the power of knowledge with a Vajravel (a thunderbolt-like instrument)in his right hand and his left hand on his thigh. Unlike other temples, this Lord Murugan doesnot have a vel. Only during decoration, a vel and a rooster flagare placed separately. Thereare separate shrines for both Valli and Deivanai . Opening hours The temple is usually open from 5:45 AM to 12 Noon and 3 PM to 9PM. On special days, thetemple is open all day from 12 PM to 3 PM. No performance ofSoora samharam After killing thedemon Thaarakasura in Tiruchendoor, he came here to reduce his anger, so Soorasamharamwill not be conducted here. White elephant The original animal mount of Murugan is believed to be anelephant, compared to peacock which is considered to be the most common mount.The white elephant is considered a more powerful, terror striking animal.Area of Peace Poojas There are many Sevas & Rituals performing in Temple onDaily, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly basis. The main and important sevas areAbhishekam, Kalyanotsavam, Thanga Teru or Golden Chariot. Devotees throng to thetemple for Just as Lord Muruga married his Kriya Shakti, Deivanai, inThiruparankundram, he married his Icha Shakti, Valliammai, in Thirutthani andlived happily. Moreover, devotees who worship this god continuously on fivespecific days receive the blessings of the god and become those who havereceived rare blessings in their lives. Festivals Thousands of devotees visit the temple during the monthlyKrithigai Utsava days. Apart from this, the Thiruppugazh Thirupadi festival onDecember 31 and January 1 every year is a famous festival at the districtlevel. Lakhs of devotees from all over South India visit the temple during the Aadi Krithigai festival.Devotees gather in large numbers in all parts of Tiruttani city during thisfestival. During the Aadi Krithigai festival, more than one lakh devotees cometo visit Lord Murugan with flower kavadis. During this festival, the devoteeschant Arohara Gosham and the devotees dance and sing in rows throughout the dayand night is a spectacular sight. ThiruppugazhThiruppadi Festival During the British rule, instead of celebrating the New Yearaccording to the British custom, the people of this state used to gather ingroups on the Thanigai Hill on the day before the English New Year to seek theblessings of the Tamil God and sing bhajans and visit Lord Murugan. VallimalaiSwamigal from Tamil Nadu, along with his disciples, organized the above bhajangroups and celebrated it as a festival. The group of bhajans who sing the abovesongs has now increased to hundreds and on the night of December 31, it isstill customary to worship the 365 steps located to represent the days of theyear, sing each song for each step, and go to the hill temple to have darshanof the Lord. The songs sung by the bhajan groups echo in the hills on the abovetwo days. Moreover, thousands of devotees come to visit the Lord on that day,carrying vel kavadis. Literary significance Arunagirinathar, a great ascetic who lived about sixhundred years ago, has composed songs praising the glory of this temple throughhis book Thiruppugazh. In his songs, he has compared Thanigai Hill to KailashHill. Ramalinga VallalarSwami, a great ascetic and Siddhar who lived 150 years ago, was known as ArutprakashaVallalar. In his book Thiruvarutpa, he has sung about Lord Muruga of the templeand it is understood that he received blessings by seeing the image of LordMuruga in the mirror at his home in Chennai. Furthermore, whenMuthusamy Dikshitar, oneof the three, lived about 200 years ago and worshipped Lord Murugan on ThanigaiHill for musical knowledge, Lord Murugan blessed him with the ability to sing.He also took the first step and started singing by saying “Om Guru KuhayaNamah” as the first song. Thus, many miracles have been bestowed upon various devoteesby Lord Murugan on Thanigai Hill, making Tiruthani a very ancient andprestigious place. Location Thirutani is located 18 km from Arakkonam and 84 km northwestof Chennai, near the AndhraPradesh border . There are bus and train facilities available fromChennai to Thirutani. Facilities provided bythe temple administration A tar road has beenconstructed and maintained on the mountain path to enable devotees to easilyreach the hill templefor Swami Darshan. Buses are operated by the temple administration. Rooms, huts and air-conditioned huts have been constructed toaccommodate devotees. Rest rooms have also been constructed at the foothills,near the bus stand and near the mountain path for the use of the generalpublic. The temple has constructed and used wedding halls in keyareas of the city, charging low fees for them. The golden chariot service is being performed to fulfil theprayers of devotees. Shops have been set up by the temple administration to sellitems for abhishekam and archana at reasonable prices.Shops have been set up bythe administration to sell temple publications, calendars, promotional items,and books. The temple administrationmaintains a children's and girls' charity home. It provides free food and lodgingfacilities for destitute children to stay and study. The Siddha Hospital operates daily with qualifieddoctors to provide first aid to devotees at the mountain temple, treatemergencies, and treat physical ailments. The Arulmigu SubramaniaSwamy Art College is functioning on behalf of the government on land donated by the TiruttaniTemple. The temple administrationhas started a libraryin the building where former Kudiyasu Chairman Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was bornand is maintaining the building. Daily, at 12.00 noon, 300 devotees who visit the temple fordarshan of the Lord are being provided with full meal. Address and phonenumber Arulmigu Subramanyaswamy Temple, Malaikoil, Tiruttani,Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu – 631209 Phone number-044-27885247. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1363511444.177516.1768387184318%40mail.yahoo.com.
