Vallakottai Subramaniaswamy Temple – Legends
Murugan slayed Demon Vallan here:
As per
Hindu legend, there was a demon by name Vallan who was troubling the Devas, the celestial deities. The Devas sought the help of
Murugan. He informed them that the time had come to destroy the demon. He
eventually waged a war and slayed the demon at the place. He established the
place as Vallan Kottai, literally meaning the "Fort of Vallan".
Indra worshipped Murugan here:
Indra, the king of Devas, requested his Guru Brihaspati to suggest a place for him to worship Murugan. He
suggested going to Vallakottai, an abode of Murugan. Indra came to Vallakottai,
pierced the earth with his weapon Vajrayudha to create a tank to extract water. He performed
ablution to image of Murugan at this place and attained his needs. Since Indra
created the tank with his Vajrayudha, the temple tank is named as Vajra
Theertha.
Bhagiratha disrespect to Sage Naradha:
As per
another legend, a king by name Bhagiratha was ruling the Elanji kingdom. He was
very haughty to sage Naradha and to teach him a lesson for his behaviour, Naradha
infuriated a demon king named Goran to attack Elanji kingdom. Goran was a
powerful demon and he made a sudden attack. Bhagiratha was unable to control
the forces and eventually lost the battle to Goran. Realizing his mistake, he
sought the advice of Naradha.
The sage
advised him to find sage Durvasa, who could find a resolution. The king roamed around
the forest for a long time and finally found Durvasa. The sage advised him to
worship Murugan at Vallakottai to get back his kingdom. The king worshipped Murugan
at this place for a long time and built the temple.
Lord Murugan appeared to Arunagirinathar in dream to
tell about this place:
Arunagirinathar
was advised by Lord to Visit this temple on the way to Thiruthani from
Thiruporur, in his dream. He has sung 7 hymns in Thirupugazh in praise of
Lord Sri Subramaniyar.
Etymology:
Arunagirinathar
denotes this Vallakottai as Kotainakar, Kotappati, Kotaiyampati, Kottai
enumpati, and Kottai'. Though Arunagirinathar mentioned this place by many
names, it is presently popular only as Vallakottai. There are many
interpretations available for this name; yet only one seems to be plausible. In
Kanchipuram District, near Vallakottai, there is another Murugan, ‘Tirupati' (holy
place) by name ‘Vallam'. By connecting this holy place ‘Vallam', the people of
the area would have called ‘Vallakottai' first. Afterwards it seems that this
holy place would have naturally got the name of Vallakottai.