Abodes of Ganesha
Abodes of Shakti
Abodes of Shiva
Abodes of Skanda Abodes of Surya
Abodes of Vishnu
Templenet Archives

Templenet Encyclopedia
Architecture
Travel and Tourism
Festivals and Fairs
Beliefs and Legends
Glossary of Terms
About Templenet

tn.jpg (19837 bytes)
The Ultimate Source of Information on Indian Temples

Temples of Tamilnadu
Temples of Kerala
Temples of Karnataka
Temples of Andhra
Pradesh

Temples of Orissa
Temples of Central India
Temples of Maharashtra
Temples of Western India
Temples of the Himalayas
Temples of the Gangetic Plains
Temples of North Eastern India
Temples of Bengal


Feedback & Information:

Email
 
©1996-2009
K. Kannikeswaran
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website may be reproduced or used in any form without permission.
.
Templenet
where
Tradition Meets
Technology

tn1.jpg (28116 bytes)

Kunnakkudi
Temples of Tamilnadu >>Kunnakkudi
Abodes of Skanda >>Kunnakkudi
Travel Base: Madurai

Significance: Kunnakkudi is noted for its beautiful hill temple dedicated to Shanmuganathar. The name Kunnakudi is derived from the sacred Kunru(hill) housing the temple. Kunnakkudi is also known as Mayuragiri, Arasavanam and Mayuranagaram.

Kunnakudi is located at a distance of 14 kms from Karaikudi. Located in the vicinity is the Tevara stalam Thiruppattur and the famous Karpagavinayakar Temple at Pillayarpatti. This temple has been revered by the Thirupugazh hymns of Arunagirinathar.

kunnak1.jpg (52929 bytes)

Legends: Legend has it that Vishnu and Bhrama once paid a visit to Skanda - at which time, the peacock mount of Skanda behaved with arrogance towards the guests. Skanda cursed the peacock to turn into stone. This peacock manifested itself as a hill and carried out penances towards Skanda, after which it was restored to its original form. Part of the rock is said to remain as Mayuragiri or Kunnakkudi, enshrining Skanda.

The Togaiyadi Vinayakar shrine is located at the foot of the hill. A flight of steps leads to the top of the hill. There is a shrine to Idumban enroute to the hill temple. The Kunnakkudi temple was built by the Marudu brothers of this area (Sivaganga Samastaanam), who are also associated with the major Shivastalams in this area.

Deities: The presiding deity is the six faced Shanmugar mounted on his peacock flanked by Valli and Deivayanai. The sanctum faces the east.

To the south of the sanctum is the impressive Alankara mandapam enshrining the festival image of Shanmugar. There are also shrines to Vinayakar, Kuzhandai Vadivelar, Meenakshi Sundareswarar, Dakshinamurthy, Natarajar, Chandeswarar and the Navagrahams. Images of Veerabahu and idumban are also seen at this temple. Much of this is a rock cut temple.

There is a cave temple dedicated to Shiva with a 5 tiered Gopuram at the foot of the hill. This cave temple is of great archeological significance. There are three caves here, dating back to the 8th century CE. There are three caves here. The first enshrines a Shivalingam. One of the walls bears a sculptured image of Vishnu, while the other bears an image of Lingapurnadeva, being worshipped by Bhrama (with a miniature swan above him) and a four armed Vishnu bearing a conch and discus. Also carved here are images of Durga and Harihara bearing attributes of both Shiva and Vishnu (as in Pillayarpatti). There is also a brilliant sculpture of Nataraja in this cave temple in addition to image of Vinayaka and Subramanya.


Festivals: Six worship services are offered each day here. The annual festivals are celebrated during Thaipoosam and PanguniUttiram. Many devotees circumambulate the hill during these occasions. Mondays, in the month of Karthigai are considered sacred here.