Tiruchendur is a beautiful temple complex on the shore, just yards from the ocean.  The main deity of the temple is Subramanyam, brother of Ganesha and son of Shiva.  It is also considered to be the main Jupiter temple in Tamil Nadu.  Other temples in the complex include some wonderful Ganesha and Shiva temples.

 

It is said that Subramanyam killed the demon Surapadman on the beach here. The battle was long and the demon at one point, took the form of a mango tree to attack Subramanyam as seen above!  When Subramanyam split the tree, out came a peacock and a rooster.  Subramanyam subdued them and from that point on he rides on a peacock and the rooster is see on his flag.

There is a famous story that took place around 1648 AD, when the Dutch took posession of the temple and used it as a fort.  As the popular story goes, they eventually left the temple, but took the deities with them, thinking they were made of gold.  But as they rowed away out to their boat, the sea came up with a fury and the Dutch sailors threw the idols overboard.  After a number of years, one of the temple priests had a dream that he should take a boat out and wherever he found a floating lime, there he would find the murti.

So out they went, and recovered the murtis which were reinstalled in the temple where they are to be found to this day.

A sandstone temple existed on the site for a very long time, but the current temple dates back to around 1720 AD when the original sandstone construction was replaced with black granite. 

Interestingly, there was a time when erosion threatened the temple and the British repaired the foundations.  To this day there are portraits of the British in one hall commemorating their contributions.

The main sanctum is actually set in a cave and so one stands outside it at some distance while the priests go in to perform the pujas.  Afterwards, as you walk out there is a small door that you have to crouch to fit through.  You walk through a low and very narrow passageway to the point where you are directly behind the main sanctum where the deity sits.  In an surprisingly spacious room you see a series of 5, three foot tall Shiva lingams; one for each element (earht, air, fire, and water).  You touch each one, apply some vibhuti (sacred ash) to your forehead and walk back out again.  It's a very interesting experience.

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