Maruthamalai Marudhachalamurthy Temple

About

The Marudhamalai Murugan Temple, also called the Maruthamalai Marudhachalamurthy Temple, stands on a granite ridge of the Western Ghats about twelve kilometres west of Coimbatore. Built by Tamil kings as far back as the Sangam era and referenced in the Purananuru, the shrine is dedicated to Murugan, the youthful warrior form of Kartikeya, and is traditionally counted as the seventh of his Six Abodes, the Aaru Padai Veedu.

The presiding deity is invoked under several beloved names, including Marudhamalai Andavar, Marudachalapathi, and Dhandayuthanpani. The hill itself rises about six hundred feet, and its name draws from the marudham or Terminalia arjuna tree that grows on its slopes, paired with malai, the Tamil word for hill. Unusually for a Murugan Temple, the sanctum faces east.

Around the Temple are sacred theerthams such as the Maruda Theertham and Skanda Theertham, springs whose waters are held to carry medicinal grace. At the southern end of the precinct, a staircase climbs to the cave of Pambatti Siddhar, a twelfth-century Tamil sage among the eighteen Siddhars who is said to have performed penance on this hill. Tradition holds that Murugan appeared first as a serpent and then with his consorts Valli and Devasena, blessing the sage with a hidden tunnel by which he reached the sanctum.

Thaipusam and other Murugan festivals are marked here with great devotion, and on many evenings devotees draw the deity around the Temple in a ratha yatra.

History

Tradition traces the hill's sanctity to the Sangam era, with the Purananuru itself pointing to a Tamil hill sanctuary already established here. The Temple's present structure dates to the twelfth century, and the hill is bound to the wider lineage of the Tamil Siddhars through the cave of Pambatti Siddhar, who tradition holds performed penance here and received the Marutha Tirtham from Lord Murugan himself. The shrine is administered today by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Significance

As one of the Aaru Padai Veedu, the six battle camps and abodes where Murugan revealed himself in Tamil sacred geography, Marudhamalai holds a place in Tamil devotional life shared by only five other hills. Unusually among Murugan's hill shrines its sanctum faces east, and the Temple's springs, the Maruda Theertham and Skanda Theertham, are still held by pilgrims to carry medicinal grace.

Architecture

Dravidian hill-temple architecture with a painted rajagopuram