In my previous article (https://indiachapter.in/article/1/3,15,20/40) we saw how Lord Muruga’s ‘Aarupadai Veedugal’ In Tamil Nadu came to be. Apart from the spiritual aspects of the Lord’s abodes, we also looked into Thirumurugatrupadai. In this article, I will take you on a journey to Thiruparangundram, the first of the six abodes. 

Before that, let me give a brief  on Kantha Sashti Kavasam (shield/protection), the Bhakti song which was at the centre of a controversy in Tamil Nadu recently. It was composed by Thiru. Balan Deva Rayan. He is considered to be born between 1820 and 1830. He was born into a very wealthy family. His father, Veerasami Pillai, served as a translator for the Mysore Maharaja. Balan Deva Rayan was drawn towards the beauty of Tamil, he eventually joined Tamil vidwan Meenatchi Sundaram Pillai as a student. It is common knowledge that he composed Kantha Sashti Kavasam at Sennimalai near Erode. 

Each one of the six abodes of Lord Muruga has a corresponding Kantha Sashti Kavasam. Apart from this, Balan Deva Rayan has composed other works: Siva Kavasam, Shanmuga Kavasam, Sakthi Kavasam, Narayana Kavasam and many other ‘Kavasam’ bhakti poems. 

Of these, the Kantha Sashti Kavasam written for Thiruchendur (Lord Muruga’s one of the six abodes), is the largest. Kavacham starts with six verses. These verses are common for all the six abodes. Beyond these six verses, there are 238 verses for Thiruchendur, so totally there are 244 verses. The first four (starts with ‘Thuthiporku’) are set in ‘Nerisai Venba’, the next two (starts with ‘Amarar idar theera’) are in ‘Kural Venba’. The rest are set in ‘Mandila Asiriyap Pa’. (Tamil poetry is classified into various types of Venba based on the rules of metric prosody).

Of these, this set of verses dedicated to Thiruchendur is what people commonly consider as  Kantha Sashti Kavadam. The songs dedicated to the other abodes are not very well known and these are: 

Thiruparankumdram - 79 verses 

Pazhani - 144 verses 

Swamimalai - 74

Thiruthani - 157

Pazhamudhircholai - 80

Despite these verses being less in vogue, famous classical singers Srimathi Vani Jayaram and Srimathi Revathi Shankaran have set these to tune. 

Thiruparankumdram, the first of the six abodes is located just 8 km south of Madurai, one of the major cities in the south of Tamil Nadu. The hill on which the temple for Lord Muruga is situated is shaped in the form of a Linga. The abode for Lord Murga is a ‘cut-in rock temple’--early temples which were constructed by carving out portions of rock. This cave temple  was originally built by Sathan Ganapathy, the army commander of Parantaka Nedunjadayan, the king who was ruling Madurai in 773 AD. Later the Pandya and Nayaka kings made sure the temple continued to operate and added more structures to it.

Thiruparankumdram can be split into three parts: Thiru+param+kundram. Thiru in Tamil denotes respect. Param means object of origin, Kundram means a small mountain. It is believed, Lord Siva, the originator gave darshan as Linga in the form of mountain. 

According to the Sthala Purana, the story starts with Lord Shiva preaching the Pranava Mantra ‘Om’ to Goddess Parvati. Lord Muruga is lying on Parvati’s lap as a child. The mantra passed on to Parvati gets absorbed by Lord Muruga also. But, according to the sastras, mantras should be properly received from the Guru. Mantras should not be learnt merely by listening to someone teaching it to another person. But, Muruga does learn the meaning of Om; goes on to testing trials with Lord Brahma. He eventually ends up teaching its meaning to Lord Shiva himself--becoming ‘Thagappan Sami’. 

As penance for learning the meaning of ‘Om’ the improper way, Lord Muruga meditated  in Thiruparankumdram with a single-minded focus on Lord Shiva. This impressed Shiva, and he appeared in front of Muruga as a Linga-shaped hill. This came to be known as Thiruparankumdram. Hence it became the first of the six abodes. 

Muruga took an avatar in this universe for the purpose of freeing Devas from the wrongdoings  of Asura Surapadman. The final battle in which the Asura got killed, took place in Thiruchendur. Impressed with Muruga, Indira gave his daughter Deivanai in marriage to him. 

In Thirupparamkunram, there are five caves in the main temple. Subrahmanya, Durga, Vinayaga, Sathyagireeswarar and Pavalakanivai Perumal are in these five caves respectively. Goddesses Annapurani and Jeshtadevi are in two separate caves. And Deivanai blesses us in a separate cave. The holy thirtha of ‘Saravana Poigai’ is also located here. 

In this 190 metre high hill, there is a Kasi Viswanatha temple at its peak too. In fact, the Nayanmars Thirugnanasambandar and Thirunavukarasar have sung bhakti songs on this temple. Of all the six abodes of Lord Muruga, this is the largest. Subrahmanya and Pavalakanivaai Thirumaal  took part in Madurai Meenakshi’s marriage to Lord Shiva (as Sundareswarar). Pavalakanivaai Perumal gave his sister Meenakshi in marriage  to Sundareswarar. Every year, Deivanai’s divine marriage to Lord Muruga is celebrated in a very grand manner. Apart from this, the Thirukarthikai ceremony, Surasamara ceremony, Thaipusam boat festival, Temple car festival take place with pomp and grandeur. The temple also hosts a Veda Patashala.

In the next piece, we will explore Tiruchendur, the next of the six abodes

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