Beautiful Drive to the Thiruporur Murugan Temple
The Thiruporur Murugan temple is one of the ancient temples in south India. The presiding deity, swayambhu moorthy, is Lord Karthikeya and his consorts, Valli and Deivayanai. The inscriptions found Devayani's shrine are proof that Vikrama Chola (1118 - 1133 AD) donated the land for the temple.The presiding deity's sanctum sanctorum faces east and the main idol in the anthill is covered with a kavacham (armour). Within the sanctum sanctorum, the chinnavar or the smaller deity resides with His consorts and for whom the abhisheka and aradhana is performed.
Legend has it that the Odai or Shanmuga Theertham was formed when Lord Muruga's spear pierced the earth and water came gushing out.
Thiruporur is one of three places where the lord waged the war against the demon, Tharaka. Por in tamizh means war. Hence it is believed that who one worships the lord at this temple will be free from enmity. The other two places where Lord Murugan waged wars include Tiruchendur and Tiruparankundram.
It is also believed that Lord Shiva came to Thiruporur to relieve Maha Vishnu and MahaLakshmi from Kanva rishi's curse. Later, Lord Vishnu worshiped Shiva as Vanmeekeswara on the Pranava Hill to get rid of the sin of having killed Soorapadman.
It is also believed that Lord Shiva came to Thiruporur to relieve Maha Vishnu and MahaLakshmi from Kanva rishi's curse. Later, Lord Vishnu worshiped Shiva as Vanmeekeswara on the Pranava Hill to get rid of the sin of having killed Soorapadman.
I have been planning to visit this temple for days now and I had casually mentioned this to my friend's sister. To my pleasant surprise, she expressed her interest in joining me to the temple should I decide to go on a weekend. Thankfully, everything fell into place yesterday and we both drove down to Thiruporur. I was excited that I finally got a chance to see bhagavan.
I had searched for the route on google maps and also asked a few of my friends for directions. It was quite simple. It was one straightforward route, all the way down the Old Mahabalipuram Road. It was approximately 39kms from where I stayed and took me about an hour to get there. We left a little early to beat the traffic and that helped us return to the city on time. The temple is on the main road and past the temple tank or Shanmugha theertham. We saw a few swans merrily swimming in the temple tank. The morning was peaceful and the weather was on our side.
We had excellent darshan of the Lord and his consorts up close and they gave me a garland from the main deity's form as a blessing. An important aspect you will notice is that the deities do not have any features on their face, since they have faded over time. You will also notice the photograph of Sri Chidambara Swamigal. The saint established two chakras in the temple, that is the Srichakra on the left side of the presiding deity and the theertha-chakra inside the sanctum.
The story of the saint goes thus:
Sri Chidambara Sivagnana Swamigal an ardent worshipper of Goddess Madurai Meenakshi had a vision of the Goddess bidding him to build a temple for Lord Muruga at Thirupporur. When the saint reached Thiruporur and searched for an idol of Muruga, he was unable to find it. Later, an old man came by and pointed his finger in one particular spot. To the saint's surprise, he found the idol of Lord Muruga. After six unsuccessful attempts, the saint started building the temple for the seventh time.
The entire trip was just perfect. I had only wished that I had taken my camera along.
We had excellent darshan of the Lord and his consorts up close and they gave me a garland from the main deity's form as a blessing. An important aspect you will notice is that the deities do not have any features on their face, since they have faded over time. You will also notice the photograph of Sri Chidambara Swamigal. The saint established two chakras in the temple, that is the Srichakra on the left side of the presiding deity and the theertha-chakra inside the sanctum.
The story of the saint goes thus:
Sri Chidambara Sivagnana Swamigal an ardent worshipper of Goddess Madurai Meenakshi had a vision of the Goddess bidding him to build a temple for Lord Muruga at Thirupporur. When the saint reached Thiruporur and searched for an idol of Muruga, he was unable to find it. Later, an old man came by and pointed his finger in one particular spot. To the saint's surprise, he found the idol of Lord Muruga. After six unsuccessful attempts, the saint started building the temple for the seventh time.
The entire trip was just perfect. I had only wished that I had taken my camera along.
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