Subramanyaswamy Temple, Thiruparankundram – History
Tiruparankundram
is one of the six main pilgrimage sites for the devotion of the son of Shiva –
Muruga (also Subramanya), Tamil Hindu god of war and patron of Tamilnadu. The
Tiruparankundram Temple, Madurai dates back to the sixth century. The antiquity
of Tiruparankundram Temple can very well be gauged from the fact that it finds
mention even in the Sangam Literature. Later, during the reign of Nayaks of
Madurai (1559 - 1736 AD) the temple was supplemented with beautiful gopurams
and beautified.
In olden
days, it was called as Thenparankundram (Then in Tamil meaning South), since
the temple was facing south. During Muslim invasion, it got damaged and the
current temple was built. Since it was turned to the other side, it is called
as “Thiruparankundram” (Thirumpu in Tamil meaning ‘turn back’). When we do Giri
Valam (circumambulating the hill), exactly on the back side of today’s temple,
we can see Umaiyandar cave temple which is under the control of Archaeological
department.
This is
one of the most important places to visit since Siddhas like Nakkeerar lived in
caves and did penance here. Inscriptional evidences point out that this temple,
being carved out of a hill, was most probably earlier a Jain cave. There is
another theory that earlier to this, the Murugan temple existed much before the
6th century and converted into Jain worship centre by Jain monks under the
aegis of Pandya king Koon Pandiyan.
The
temple was later converted into a Hindu temple under the tutelage of Gajapathy,
the minister of a later Pandya King, during the latter part of the 8th
century. The temple has several additions during the regime of Madurai
Nayaks who commissioned the pillared
halls in the temple. In modern times, the temple is maintained and
administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
The
Temple was built in different phases as different patrons took to reshaping and
developing the temple. Parts of the temple which were constructed by the Pandya
rulers in the 8th century make the first phase. These sections are rock cut
structures made out from caves to form elegant and ornately carved semi
man-made temples. The second phase came from the 16th century onwards when the
Nayaks rulers of Madurai became patrons of the temple.
They
renovated the temple and added more sculpturing, and architectural changes that
highlight the Dravidian style of temple architecture of the time. They added
many gopurams or temple towers like those seen in the other temples of Madurai.
Many steps and ambulatories or Praharams were added, a wall was built to cordon
off the temple area and a majestic gopuram was provided at the entrance.
