Pazhamudircholai is a Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 temple

Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

, located about 16 kilometres north of Madurai

Madurai

Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 atop a hill covered with dense forests. One of the six important abodes (Arupadaiveedu

Arupadaiveedu

The Arupadaiveedu are the most important shrines for the devotees of Muruga in Tamilnadu, India.They are:*Palani Murugan Temple *Swamimalai *Thiruthani...

) of Lord Muruga, it is close to the Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 temple of Azhagar Kovil.

Access

One can reach Pazhamudircholai by car, van, two-wheeler or bus. From Madurai one can catch the bus on route number 44 to reach it. There is a bus shuttle every 20 minutes from the foot of the hill to the Temple. It takes approximately 15 minutes to reach the temple.

Location

Pazhamudircholai is rich in fruits, vegetables and flowers. It is a dense forest where Valli is supposed to have lived.
It is a small temple with Valli, Deivayanai, and Lord Muruga in a separate shrine. Lord Ganesha is also present in a separate shrine. There is a Temple Tower and monkeys play around the area. There is another small temple above Pazhamudhir Cholai. Local tribes lead their lives here. It is a fertile hill with many natural springs and herbs.

Although there are hundreds of Temples in Tamil Nadu for Lord Muruga, particularly six temples called Arupadaiveedu are very famous among them. Important events in Lord Muruga's history happened in these places.

Among the Arupadaiveedu, Pazhamudircholai is the last. This Lord Murugan at Pazhamudircholai is praised in old Tamil literature such as Silappathikaram, Ettuthokai

Ettuthokai

Ettuthokai– 'The Eight Anthologies' - Classical Tamil poetic work - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature...

 and Pattupattu

Pattupattu

PathuPattu – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mid length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 300 BCE and 200 CE...

.

Legend of the temple

The great Tamil poet and saint Avvaiyar

Avvaiyar

The Avvaiyars "respectable women" was the title of more than one poet who was active during different periods of Tamil literature. The Avvaiyar were some of the most famous and important female poets of the Tamil canon. Abithana Chintamani states that there were three female poets titled...

had been tested by Lord Murugan here. In order to play with Avvaiyar who was one of the very famous devotees of Lord Muruga, the Lord played a drama. One day Avvaiyar became tired while traveling because of very hot summer and so came under the shadow of a fruit tree. She was very hungry and thirsty. At that time, a small boy who was sitting on the tree asked her whether she wanted fruits from the tree. Avvaiyar told that she wanted fruits. At that time the boy asked Avvaiyar whether she wanted roasted fruits or unroasted fruits. Avvaiyar who was a famous Tamil poet, litterateur and having in-depth knowledge in Tamil thought, "Is there any roasted fruit in the world?" and decided that the small boy didn't have knowledge even about a fruit. But, as she was very tired, she didn't want to argue with the small boy and asked him to pick roasted fruits for her. The boy shook the tree and so fruits fell under the tree. The mud under the tree had stuck on the fruit. Avvaiyar took the fruits and blew on the fruit to remove the mud. The boy interpreted it in the way that as the fruits were roasted and had become warm, Avvaiyar had blown the fruits to cool them. The boy asked Avvaiyar whether the fruits were warm?

Avvaiyar was astonished, how a small village cowboy had played such an intelligent drama! She had thought that the small boy had no knowledge about fruits and how the fruits in the tree may become roasted fruits. But blowing the air on the fruit to remove the mud is like blowing air to reduce the heat as the fruit is roasted. What a beautiful comparison. Such a beautiful comparison would not have risen in her mind even though she had gained rich knowledge in Tamil. She asked the small boy, "Who are you actually?" Then small boy disappeared and in his place, Lord Murugan appeared. Avvaiyar realized that it was a play of God and she understood that there were more and more things that she had to learn. She bowed to Lord Murugan and requested him to bestow her with bountiful knowledge.