Tiruchendur Murugan Temple - Tamil Nadu, India

Tiruchendur is a small town located in the Southern part of Tamil Nadu state of India. The town is famous because of Tiruchendur Murugan Temple and is famous for Indian Temple Tour. Tiruchendur town is located at a distance of around 75 kms from Kanyakumari, and around 55 kms from Tirunelveli. Tiruchendur Murugan temple is one the six "arupadai veedu" of Lord Muruga.

Tiruchendur Murugan temple is very huge and it is located too close to the sea shore. In fact, the sea waves keep touching the walls of Murugan temple. Even though the actual temple entrance starts from the Rajagopuram (temple tower) near the beach, there is mandapa (closed corridor) for a distance of around 1-1.5 kms away from the temple. On both sides of the mandapa, you can find a lot of shops selling pooja related materials. Also, there are small temples. The temple starts from the Rajagopuram (tower), where you can find a big mandapa (corridor). The temple structure and entrance are a bit confusing. There are some shrines including that of Lord Ganesha and Muruga located in the outside mandapa.

The main deity of the temple Lord Muruga is believed to be many thousands of years old due to its reference in Hindu puranas and Tamil ancient books. The main shrine has Lord Muruga in the standing posture. Lord Muruga in this temple is also called as Senthil, Senthil Andavar, Karthikeya, and Subramanya. In the main shrine itself, there is a Shiv linga called as Jagannatha. It is believed that this Shiv linga and a group of five Shiv lingas (Pancha linga) behind the main shrine were worshiped by Lord Muruga. You can also go and visit the Pancha Linga in the cave located behind the main shrine. Near the main shrine the idols of Veera Bagu, Veera Mahendra, Ganesha, and Parvathi are found.

In the prakara there is a monolithic figure of Lord Muruga seating on the peacock and fighting with the Asura (demon). There are two separate shrines - one for Valli and another for Devasena (wives of Lord Muruga) are also found in the corridor. There are a lot of Shiv Linga idols found in the corridor. There are also shrines or idols for Veera Kesari, Veera Marthandar, Dakshinamurthy, Ganesha, Nataraja, and Shanmuga. In the corridor, there is a shrine dedicated for Lord Venkatesa Perumal (Vishnu). Near his shrine, you can find the carved idol of Gaja Lakshmi and Ranganath along with Sri Devi, Bhoo Devi, and Neela Devi.

Outside Subramania Swamy Temple, there is a holy well named 'Nazhi Kinaru' where the devotees take bath. There is a small separate cave temple for Valli named ' Valli Guhai'. This is the place where Valli hid herself inside the cave as she was afraid of the elephant. The small cave temple has the idols of Valli, Dattratreya, Chandra, Shiv Linga, and Ganesha.