Thiruchendur Murugan Temple

Tiruchendur is around 40 km from Thoothukudi and can be reached by train and by buses. It is the most important tourist attraction in Thoothukudi district. It is one of the six abodes of Lord Muruga called Arupadai Veedu. Of them, this is the only one standing on level ground, the others are on hills or elevated places. Thousands of years back, Tamilians worshipped Nature as Muruku (a Tamil word meaning: ‘youthfulness, tenderness, fragrance, etc’). Temples were constructed in natural settings – around forests, hilly areas, and waterfalls and among them but it has a special significance.

It was here that Lord Murugan arrived with his band of warriors to fight against the Asura, Soorapadama. So a temple was constructed at Tiruchendur for Lord Murugan in remembrance of this.

Lord Muruga with the blessings from his divine parents, Brahma, Vishnu and crores of devas, created Tiruchendur in southeastern region near Vira Magendragiri Hills. Near Tiruchendur temple, a small temple for Lord Vinayaga is also found. It is called Tundugai Vinayagar Temple. All devotees will first worship this Tundugai Vinayagar and then only worship Lord Muruga. In the temple, there are three prakarams. In the first Prakaram (round), Siddhi Vinayaga Peruman Temple is situated. In this prakaram, if one moves towards west, on the farthest west there one can see 108 Sivalingas. These Sivalingas are called 108 Mahadevars. Then if one turns north, one can see a tall sized Vallapa Vinayagar facing west. After going to the north end, if one turns east, the Perumal sannidhi is situated there. After reaching the perumal Sannidhi end, if one turns south, one finds the copper Kodi Maram (Holy Flag mast). Kalyana Vinayagar is situated near Kodi Maram. Usually marriages take place near this sannidhi. The temple is on the edge of the sea and the main deity has been cut on a rock lying on the shores. The idol of the Urchavar of festival-deity is kept in a separate shrine facing the opposite direction. This idol was recovered from the sea by a local chief called Vadamalai and installed there. The silver vessels presented to the shrine by the erstwhile collector of this district, Lushington expose the devotion of foreigners too. Kumarakuruparar (17th century AD) the famous saint and poet who were originally dumb got his power of speech in this temple and sung hymns on the deity.

Travel To Thiruchendur

It is 55 km south-east of Tirunelveli, 40 km from Tuticorin and 75 km north-east of Kanyakumari.

Bus : Govt & Private buses from Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchy and Coimbatore. From Tirunelveli & Tuticorin more frequent buses are there.

Train :

Daily Train from Chennai ( TIRUCHENDUR EXP : # 16735 -starts at 16.05 from Chennai Egmore )

As there are more Train connectivity to Tirunelveli- One can travel up to Tirunelveli by Train and take a bus or car to Tiruchendur.

Four Passenger Trains are there from Tirunelveli starting 7.00am, 9.35am,11.15am and 18.15pm.

Air :

Nearest Airports are

Tuticorin 30 km Madurai 168 km ( 3 Hours ) Tiruchy 311 km ( 4.5 – 5 hours ) Thiruvanthapuram International Airport 175 km ( 3.5 hours )