Thirupparamkunram Murugan Temple is one of the six prime abodes of Lord Murugan, also known as one of the Arupadaiveedu. This amazing temple not only gives its visitors a tranquil religious environment but also attracts them for its mystic beauty. Carved in a rock, this temple is colossal in size for an architecture that it possesses.

This temple is located at a distance of about 5 Km from Madurai. This temple is also believed to have been dedicated to earth as in several classical Tamil texts, it has been mentioned as “Southern Himalaya”, a place where Gods assemble.

Legend

As per a legend, this is the place where the marriage of Lord Muruga with Deivayanai, the divine daughter of king of Heaven, Indra took place and it is also believed that Lord Muruga worshipped lord Shiva at this place as Parangirinathar.

History

It is believed that this temple dates back to Pandava period and they played a significant part in building this temple. Apart from this, there are several inscriptional and literary evidences of this temple hailing from 7th and 8th century BC.

The inscriptional evidences point out that this temple was earlier a Jain cave, which actually got transformed from a Murugan temple to Jain worship centre in the 7th century. However, later it was converted again into a Hindu temple and the role of Minister of Pandya King, Gajapathy was quite instrumental in this conversion.
The famous saint of 7th century, the Saint Gnana Sambanda has also mentioned about the existence of a Shiva temple in his poetic works.

Temple Architecture

This hill temple is famous for its distinguished architecture and especially its rock cut portions attract lot of visitors from far and near. Some of the astounding features of this temple include its amazingly hill cut portions which date back to Pandava period and the life size sculptures that it houses which are from the Nayakar period. There is an Aasthaana Mandapam which possesses several artistically carved incredible pillars which lead one to the Rajagopuram (gateway) at the entrance that is about 150 ft high.

The main shrine of the temple is an old rock cut temple that possesses different cells which house the sanctums of Vishnu, Shiva, Vinayakar, Durga and Subramanya. All these statues are carved on the parankundram rock’s wall. This temple also has some mandapams situated at different levels. These include Mahamandapam, Ardha Mandapam, and Kambathadi Mandapam. 

One can witness the panels depicting the dance of bliss performed by Lord Shiva outside the sanctum. It is believed that these beautiful and magnificent works of art hail from the Pandava period. One of the most distinguished feature of this temple is that in the main shrine, the sanctums of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva face each other, which is one of the rarest sites in any Hindu temple because there have always been two different worshipping groups in Hinduism, the Shaivites and Vaishnavites, the followers of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu respectively.

There is a beautiful pond outside the temple where the devotees serve the fish with salt and rice flakes.

You can also witness magnificently carved Mayil, Nandi and the vehicle of Lord Ganesha, the Mouse in the front of the Kodi Maram or Dwajasthambam. One of the special features of this Murugan temple is that while going inside, the sannidhis of several Hindu Goddesses and Gods can be seen. One of the sannidhi which is a must see in the temple is of Saneeswaran, without the other eight Grahas.

In order to reach the Ardha Mandapam, you need to climb the six steps known as the “Shadashara Padigal”. Here you can also see the rock carvings of Uggirar, Andarabaranar, Vinayagar, Karpaga, and Mahishasura Mardini. You can also see stunning sannidhis of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu along with Sathiyagireeshwarar sannidhis and Shivalingam. The Moolavar Diety’s sculpture from the rock is another amazing feature of the marvelous architecture of this temple.
In and around the temple, there are five divine water sources, also known as Theerthams, namely Sathiya Koopam, Kasi Sunai, Saniyasi Kinaru, Lakshmi Theertham and Saravana Poigai.

Festivals

The festival of Brahmotsavam is celebrated in this temple in the month of Panguni according to Tamil Calendar. For celebrating Chittirai festival, Lord Murugan and Vishnu named Pavalakanivai Perumal is taken procession to Madurai for celebrating Meenakshi’s wedding.

The other festivals that are celebrated in this temple include Skanda Sashti, Vaikasi Visakam, ten day long Kartikai Festival and the Thai float festival. Vaikuntha Ekadasi si also celebrated as a major festival in this temple.

Best Time to Visit

The best time to visit this temple is from October – March.

How to Reach

By Train

The nearest rail heads to this temple are Thirupparamkunram and Madurai, as this temple lies in between these two cities. Once you reach any of these railway stations, you can easily board a bus or hire a taxi to visit the temple.

By Road

This temple is located at a distance of about 8 Km from Madurai, on the Madurai to Kanyakumari road. Madurai is well connected to all the major cities of Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka through well developed road network.

By Air

The nearest airport to Thirupparamkunram Murugan Temple is located in Madurai at a distance of about 10 Km from the temple. This airport is served by a number of taxis and you can easily find a taxi to reach the temple.