Thiruchendur Murugan Temple – Shanmuga Vilasa
Shanmukha Vilasa is the frontal adjunct to the main
temple. It is a magnificent mandapa worked minutely of intricate stone plinths
and columns 120 feet long, 86 feet broad and supported by 124 columns.
It runs
north to south facing the sea. A colossal porch at the centre is 48 feet
square. It houses an ornate mandapa of four pillars, on a fifteen feet square
base and which is elevated by three feet.
Lord Shanmukha is received here on the 7th and 8th
days of the Masi and Avani festivals, as he is taken out of his sanctum on
those two annual occasions and when he returns thereto. The mantapa is
throughout the year used for receiving the offerings of bhaktas in cash or in
kind.
This central mantapa touches the ceiling through its elaborately carved
and majestic pillars and supports the entire Shanmukha Vilasa.
A passage from here leads to the main portals of the
main shrine 68 feet by 16 feet on either side, which has also a corridor of 53
feet, covered on either side and supported by a line of pillars. Shanmukha Vilasa is
verily the Skanda-Loka of Thiruchendur.
Here the worshippers flock from early
morning to very late in the nights, spending a happiest time. The scenic,
natural splendours and the sanctified presence of Shanmukha facing them give
their ecstatic realizations.
The writing of devotional hymns on the lintel pieces of
the Shanmukha Vilasa mantapa and on the temple walls from Arunagirinathar and
other saints has evoked universal interest in those sacred texts. Devotees
refresh their memories of them, and it is a pleasurable sight to see many a
hymn learnt by heart by them for use at their devotions.
