Thalamalayan Temple, Kadayam, Thirunelveli
Thalamalayan
Temple is dedicated to Hindu God Sastha located at Kadayam Village in
Thirunelveli District of Tamilnadu. It is present amidst the forest on mountains.
The Ramanathi (one of the tributaries of Thamirabarani River) flows past this
temple. The temple has two statues - of an elephant and a leopard. Kadayam is
one of the best places to produce lemons. According to the information provided
by the villagers, when a gurukkal was performing pooja to the God, the leopard
was chasing the elephant which resorted to the gurukkal for help.
The
gurukkal who was disturbed from his trance was enraged and raised his hand in
admonition. The elephant was converted to a statue. And so was the leopard that
was in close proximity to the elephant. The history about Arulmigu Thalaimalai
Ayyan temple is that whenever the village faced water famine, days without
rain, Vedic scholars used to do "Varuna Japam" sitting inside a big
vessel filled with water within the temple precincts. The rain God used to
bestow his blessings by pouring rain abundantly.
This
temple being open-to-sky from time immemorial and situated in the forest (about
7 kms outside village limits) several wild animals used to come inside the
temple. On one such occasion, a wild-boar entered when the Vedic scholars were
chanting "Varuna Japam". All of them called upon the God by loudly
uttering "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa", at which time the wild-boar
became a stone thing. This stone animal can even now be seen inside the temple.
Kadayam
is located at about 55 Kms from Thirunelveli, 18 Kms from Tenkasi, 19 Kms from
Ambasamudram, 180 Kms from Madurai and 126 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram. Nearest
Railway Station is located at Tenkasi. Nearest Airport is located at Madurai
and Thiruvananthapuram.