An inscription at the mantapa relates the incidents referred to. ? Vadamalaiappa was greatly struck by the Lord’s grace in giving him this great relief, in memory of which he erected a mantapa at Tiruchendur in his name and endowed it largely for the performance of a Kattalai abhishekam and pujas for Subrahmaniam on the seventh days of Masi and Avani festivals. The replacement idol was then consecrated in the shrine of Tiruppirantîsvarar alias Venku Patcha Kovil situated east of Palamcottah (known as Murugan Kurichi). Vadamalaiappa Pillaiyyan recovered the original idol and reinstalled it in the temple in the year 1653. ? Acting to the advice conveyed to him by the God, he put out to sea and following the instructions that the idol was to be found at the spot where a lime fruit would be found floating, and the place marked by the circling overhead of a kite, the bird of Vishnu. As the duplicate one was ready, and was on its way to Tiruchendur to be installed, in 1653 Vadamalaiappa Pillaiyyan had a dream. He ordered for a similar idol to be made in panchaloka. A great devotee that he was, Pillaiyyan was sorely affected and knew not what to do. The loss of the idols was discovered and duly communicated to Vadamalaiyappa Pillaiyyan, the local administrator of the Nayakkan ruler at Tirunelveli. But the sea became rough, and rocked the ship violently, so the sailors threw the idols into the sea. Their attempt at melting it proving futile, they tried to carry them away by sea. ? A familiar local tradition runs to the effect that about 1648 AD, a race of seafaring men, identified later as Dutch, descended upon Tiruchendur and carried away the idol Shanmukhar and Siva Natarajar, thinking that they were made of gold. Guru requested Viswakarma, the divine engineer, to build a temple for God Muruga. At the behest of Guru, God Muruga continued to be here. Later, the God went with his battalion and killed him. The demon refused to listen to God Muruga’s message. God Muruga sent his commander-in-chief, Veerabagu to Surapadman, as his messenger. God Muruga appeared before him and learned the history of the asuras. ? At this time, Guru Bhagawan, the preceptor of the Devas, was in Tapasya in this place praying for the darshan of God Muruga. Obeying God Shiva’s order, he came to Tiruchendur and fought Surapadaman. Accepting their plea, God Shiva created a six fire-spark from his Third eye. The Devas complained to God Shiva to put an end to the demon’s atrocities. Having this power, the Demon king Surapadman started disturbing the Devas. He did a severe penance asking God Shiva to bless him with immortality God Shiva pleased with his penance gave him the wish saying that he could be killed only by Shiva’s son. ? Legend has it that the Asura king Surapadma ruled over Veera Mahandrapuri, an island fortress. Senthil is believed to be from Senthur since it acquired the divine significance by being the battleground for God Muruga, which latter after adding the word “Thiru” became Thiruchendur. ? In Tiruchendur, God Subramanya gives darshan to devotees in the avatar of Senthil. The temple was re-built and improved by kings of various South Indian dynasties like the Pandya and the Chera kings. The cave also houses the idol of Dattatreya, the king of the hunter clan. Short distance away from the main shrine is a cave dedicated to Goddess Vali, one of the consorts of God Muruga. Here the God is seen in a standing posture.
The main sanctum sanctorum is dedicated to God Subramanya, who gives darshan in the form of Senthil.
The Temple also has a God Venkatesa (Vishnu) shrine on the northern prahara. ? The temple’s main entrance opens into the first prahara which is known as the Sivili Mandap.
The Shanmukha Vilasam houses an ornate mandap with four pillars in the center. The 16 pillar Ananda Vilas Mandap stands on a raised sandy cliff overlooking the sea. The temple’s Vasanta Mandap is a recent addition. The native red sandstone rock was used as the foundation for the temple and the long Gopuram. He worshipped God Shiva in this shrine which was built by Maya. This is where God Muruga had camped before and after his war with the Demon king Surapadma. ? The Murugan temple goes back to 2000 years or so. The town Tiruchendur once had a different puranic name of Jayanthipuram. It is one of the six major abodes of God Subramanya and is the only one among the six to be near the sea, as the other five temples are situated on mountains. ? The Tiruchendur Subramanya Swamy Temple is situated in Tiruchendur, and is dedicated to God Subramanya or Skanda.
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