Subramaniyar Swami Temple, Valliyur – The Temple
The presiding deity here is Subramaniyar and the
sanctum enshrines an image of Murugan with that of his consort Valli. The
temple has a rock cut sanctum - carved out of a hill and several Mandapams
surrounding it. There are also shrines to Natarajar and Dakshinamurthy here.
The Saravanapoikai tank is located adjacent to the hill. The diamond studded
Vel held by Subramaniyar is of great beauty. In the entire Thirunelveli
district, Valliyur has the rare distinction of having the one and only cave
temple of Lord Muruga.
A rock named as Pooranagiri was excavated to build
this temple. The temple shape is in the form of “Om”. Note that Lord Muruga has
four arms and the idol is a replica of the one in Tiruchendur. On his right
hand are flowers and his left hand is holding onto his thigh. Next to the
sanctum sanctorum is located the Artha mandapam and then the maha mandapam. In
the Artha mandapam, Lord Arumuga gives darshan along with Valli – Deivanai. To
facilitate circumambulation of the Artha mandapam, the hill has been drilled to
set up a cave path till the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva.
In this temple, Lord Shiva as Jayandeeswarar facing
West is in a separate shrine with Soundara Nayagi Amman. The Shiva ling faces
the west in this temple which is considered very auspicious. Opposite Lord
Muruga is placed the idol of peacock which is Lord Muruga’s vehicle (vahanam).
The Artha mandapam also has the idols of Vinayaka, Veerabahu and Veera
Mahendran. On the right side of the Artha mandapam is a cave. Alongside the
entrance of the cave are Vinayaka, Sastha (Ayyappa) and Lord Shiva.
The Murugan temple has 13th century stone carvings.
The temple also has a specific sanctum sanctorum dedicate to Valli – consort of
Lord Muruga. The maha mandapam has Kasi Vishwanathar, Visalakshi and Shani Bhagwan.
There is also Dakshinamurthy (Guru Bhagavan) idol in the temple. Sthala
Vriksham is Vilvam Tree. The beautiful Temple, the temple tank and the Kuravan
Malai (Western Ghats) give the town a beautiful look and feel.
