Today (1st August 2019), my wife and I were fortunate to have a peaceful darshan at the Arulmigu Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Tiruchendur. I had travelled to Kanyakumari for a conference and landed in Tuticorin airport in the afternoon. We hired a local taxi from the airport, which first took us to Tiruchendur Temple and later dropped us at our hotel in Kanyakumari. The drive from Tuticorin airport to the temple took about 90 minutes, including a quick coffee stop. From there, it was another 90 minutes to Kanyakumari.
Tiruchendur is one of the six abodes (Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Muruga, and this temple is unique as it is located on the seashore. When we reached around 1:30 PM, it was just past noon—not a usual time for most devotees, who prefer early mornings or evenings. Being an off-season visit, the sun was bright but not unbearable. The main festival, Surasamharam, was still months away. We were one of the very few visitors at that hour—ours was the only car in the parking lot, which is usually packed. The long pathway by the beach was deserted. Most of the shops that usually serve the tourist crowd were shuttered. It felt like the whole place was taking a post-lunch break.
Inside the temple, too, it was quiet. There were no queues or crowds, and there was no need to buy a special ticket for Darshan. We walked through the cool corridors and reached the sanctum where Lord Senthilnadhar (Muruga) is enshrined. Only a couple of priests were there, and we had a serene aarathi. As we stepped out, we realised we had missed seeing the shrines of Sri Valli and Sri Devayanai, the consorts of Lord Muruga. Since the temple was so empty, we went back inside and had darshan of all three deities again, undisturbed.
One section of the temple wall caught my eye—it had nine painted panels narrating an important historical episode. These depict the story of the Dutch forces occupying the temple in 1649, stealing its sculptures, and how, after years, they were recovered and brought back by the local people. I’ve shared the photos of these panels in a separate post. It’s a powerful reminder of the temple’s deep-rooted heritage and resilience.
After spending about 45 minutes inside, we stepped out feeling blessed and resumed our journey to Kanyakumari.
Discover more from Mangoidiots
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
you visited on 2019? now days it is long queue and heavy crowd all days. Thanks for sharing :)
Nowadays, that is post-pandemic, everywhere there is crowd. Yes, I went in 2019. I think it is to do with the lean season (pre festival), and the time of the day we went – afternoon 1 PM.