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Kumbakonam 1 - SwamiMalai

On the third day of our trip we reached Kumbakonam around 3pm in the evening. Searching a couple of hotels for stay, we ended up with Madhanam Inn. A 3-star hotel, it had all the required amenities and friendly staff. Following the check-in we got refreshed and left to SwamiMalai Murugan temple which is around 9 kms from the hotel.

SwamiMalai


This is another Arupadai veedu of Lord Murugar and with this we get to worship him at 4 out of the 6 temples. The temple was crowded with devotees who in green dress, wore malai for Murugar. Lord Muruga is said to have taught his father here. So he is called Swaminathan. Once we get into the temple via the east end gopuram, we get to worship Lord Ganesha as Vallabhaganapathi. As we walk towards the left hand side we see the staircase leading to the Lord on top while his parents Sundareshwarar and Meenakshi can be worshipped below. Later as we go around this temple we can worship Dhakshinamoorthy and Durga devi.

To get the darshan of Lord Muruga we need to climb up 60 steps, each step has been named after the 60 Tamil year names. As soon as we reach up, Lord Ganapathi can be seen. Then the left hand side queue entrance leads you to the inner sanctum. We took the special entrance for Rs. 50 per head to by-pass the small crowd in the temple during that time. This entry helped us gain a place near the Lord, so that we can see the deebaradhanai and stand there for sometime taking in the darshan of Lord Murugar. Since he is a guru here the Lord had one hand on his hip and pours mercy on you.

This should be the only hill temple or a temple where the main deity sits on hill top. Lord Murugar always sits on top of a hill in most of his temples. Thanjavur district is not a mountainous area  but rather a green area with plenty of fields here but all we can see are stone built temples.

Once we got a peaceful drashan we sat down in the temple and had the temple prasadam of sweet pongal which we got for Rs. 10. From here with the help of google maps we reached the hotel. Situated near the Asoor by-pass this hotel gives easy transit to the places in and around Kumbakonam without much traffic chaos.

We had a dosa in the hotel's restaurant downstairs and retired early for the day to gear up for tomorrow's Kumbakonam sight seeing.

enroute..
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Location: Swamimalai, Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India

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