Thirumuruganathaswamy temple

This Siva temple is located close to Tiruppur and is one of the seven Sivastalams in Kongu Nadu. This temple is commonly known as Thirumuruganpondi temple in that area.MythologyAccording to legend, Lord Murugan got Brahamahathi Dosham after killing the demon king Soorapadman in his heroic Surasamharam. To get rid of this dosham, Lord Murugan erected a Shivalingam at this place and worshipped Lord Shiva. Thus the temple is called by his name as Tirumurugapoondi. Durvasar is said to have brought the Mullai tree – the stala vriksham from Karpaka Lokam. It is believed that worshipping the deity at this shetram relieves those with mental ailments.Temple structureThe temple has come up in about 1acre with high compound walls on the four sides. This temple is facing west and there is no gopuram in front as in other temples. A large Nandi - visible from a distance substitutes the traditional gopuram in a mandapam situated in front of the shrine. The main Lingam inside the sanctum sanctorum is two and a half feet in height and is facing west. The presiding deity lord shiva is known as Muruga Natheswarar or Skanda Natheswarar and the Ambal mother parvathy is called as Muyangu Poon Mulaiyammai or Aavudainayagi. The shrine for the female deity is situated to the left side of the sanctum sanctorum. To the right side of the sanctum sanctorum, there is a statue for Lord Muruga which is 5ft in height. The Natarajar's tandavam here is famous and is attributed as Brahma Tandavam. The stala vriksham is Mullai and the Theertham is called as Subramanya KoopamPoems on this templeThe thevaram Pathigam about this temple is composed by Sundarar. When sundarar planned to visit this temple, the chera king cheraman perumal nayanar gave lot of goods to this temple for the daily puja. But on the way they lost their wealth to a group of bandits. Sundarar sang a song on the praise of lord shiva and by his grace he got the goods back in the temple compound. There are two images of Sundarar here depicting his state of mind prior to and after the incident.