Pazhamudircholai Murugan Temple

Alagar Koil, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Lord Subramanya

History & Significance

Significance

One of the six Arupadaiveedu, sacred abodes of Lord Murugan, set in a forested hill near Madurai and considered the site of Murugan's marriage to Valli, a hunter-gatherer woman he wooed in the guise of a hillsman.

Plan Your Circuit

Nearby Temples

Closest temples by distance — worth combining into the same trip.

A Divya Desam Vishnu temple on the Alagar Hills, 21 km from Madurai, dedicated to Lord Kallazhagar. It is famous for the Chithirai festival, when the deity is carried down from the hills into the Vaigai river to 'meet' his sister Meenakshi ahead of her temple wedding in Madurai.

Photo sourced from Wikipedia article "Alagar Kovil" — CC-licensed via Wikimedia Commons

Alagar Koil Temple

Alagar Koil, Tamil Nadu4 km

Lord Ranganatha

A Divya Desam Vishnu temple on the Alagar Hills, where Lord Sundararajaswami (Kallalagar — 'the beautiful rock god') is enshrined. Famous for the Chithirai festival when Lord Kallalagar is taken in a procession to the Vaigai river — a spectacle of 1 million devotees. The hillock has Murugan shrines too, creating a spiritually rich complex.

Azhagar Koil Sundararajaswami Temple

Azhagar Koil, Tamil Nadu5 km

Lord Vishnu

A historic temple dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi, the fish-eyed form of Parvati, and her consort Sundareswarar, famed for its towering gopurams covered in thousands of painted deities. Its Hall of a Thousand Pillars and nightly ritual carrying Sundareswarar's image to Meenakshi's shrine draw millions of pilgrims each year.

Meenakshi Amman Temple

Madurai, Tamil Nadu16 km

Goddess Meenakshi

Subramanya

The first of the six Arupadaiveedu (abodes of Lord Murugan), carved into a rock hill 8 km from Madurai. Murugan is said to have married Devasena (Devayanai) here after the war with Soorapadman. The cave temple dates from the Pandya period.

Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple

Thiruparankundram, Tamil Nadu16 km

Lord Subramanya