Subramanya Swamy Temple, Ettukudi – The Temple
This temple is facing towards east with three tiered rajagopuram. Dhwaja Sthambam, Balipeedam and Nandi can be found in the mukha mandapam facing towards the sanctum. The temple consists of sanctum, antrala, maha mandapam and mukha mandapam. Presiding Deity is called as Soundareswarar / Soundara Nayagar and is facing east. He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam.
Mother is called as Anandhavalli. She is housed in a separate south facing shrine. Her shrine is situated in mukha mandapam to the left side of the sanctum. Though the presiding deity is Lord Shiva, prime importance is given to Lord Murugan even the temple is famously called as Ettukudi Murugan Temple.
The Murugan shrine is facing towards east and is situated adjacent to the Soundareswarar shrine. The Murugan shrine houses an image of Shanmuga with three faces and 12 arms seated on a peacock facing towards north flanked by his consorts Valli & Devasena. It is unique that the head of peacock faces to the left side here, while in all other temples, it faces to the right side.
The image is carved in such a way that the whole weight of the image is supported by the peacock's legs. He is depicted in a pose in which he was about to take the arrow from his back. He appears in different forms to the eyes of the devotees depending on the imagination of their mind as a child, youth and an elderly person.
The idol looks similar to the ones in Sikkal and Enkan. There are idols of the heroes who accompanied Lord Muruga for the war against Surapadma. There are two shrines for Lord Ganapathy in this temple with strange names- Koothaadum Vinayakar and Kokkaritha Vinayakar. There is also a shrine for Jurahareswarar which is seen only in a few temples.
Shrines & Idols of Nardana Ganapathy, Dakshinamoorthy, Srinivasa Soundaraja Perumal, Anjaneya, Manonmani, Ayyappan, Maha Lakshmi, Durga, Navagrahas, Saneeswarar and Bairavar can be seen in the prakaram. Sthala Vriksham is Vanni tree. Jeeva Samadhi of Vanmeega Siddhar can be seen below the Vanni Tree. Theertham associated with this temple is Saravana Poigai. Saravana Poigai is situated in front of the temple with a Neerazhi Mandapam.
