Ettukudi Subramaniya Swamy Temple

Ettukudi is a small village among paddy fields off the road from Nagapattinam to Thiruthuraipoondi. The Saravana Poigai tank lies in front of the temple. In the sanctum the six-faced Murugan sits on a peacock with Valli and Deivanai beside him, and the whole group stands on just the bird's two legs. Murugan is shown as a commander pulling an arrow from the quiver on his back. Devotees speak of seeing him as a child, a young man or an old one, depending on how they picture him as they stand before him.

The temple legend goes like this: a sculptor in Porulvaithacheri, a village near Nagapattinam, carved Murugan while chanting the six syllables "Saravanabhava" without pause. The Chola king loved the image so much that he wanted no second one like it anywhere, and he had the sculptor's thumb cut off. Heartbroken, the man moved to a neighbouring village and, in spite of the pain, began another Murugan with his maimed hand. As he neared the end, light poured out of the stone and the peacock came alive and rose to fly away. Mutharasan, the chieftain who ruled the place, arrived at that moment and shouted "Ettippidi!", reach out and grab it. His guards caught the bird, chipping its legs in the struggle, and it turned back to stone where it stood. "Ettippidi" wore down over time to Ettikudi and then Ettukudi, the village's name today. The same sculptor's first image is at Sikkal and his third at Enkan, and the three Murugans share one face.

Soundareswarar has a shrine to the right of the sanctum and Anandavalli Amman one to the left; here they are honoured as Murugan's parents. In the prakaram stand the nine warriors who went with Murugan to fight Surapadman. The Siddha Vanmeekar attained samadhi at Ettukudi, and his samadhi lies under the vanni tree inside the temple. This is a place where the Sashti vow and the Gowri vow are kept together, and devotees hold that a touch of the Saravana Poigai's water is enough to wash away sin.

Ettukudi temple is around 800 years old, though no inscription giving its founding year has been published; local memory ties its beginning to the chieftain Mutharasan. Today it has shrines to Nardana Ganapathi, Juradeva, Srinivasa Soundararaja Perumal, Anjaneya, Manonmani Amman, Ayyappan, Mahalakshmi, the Navagrahas, Shani and Bhairava. The temple is in Thirukkuvalai taluk and is run by the HR&CE Department.

Parents bring timid children here, show them Murugan drawing his arrow and tell them how he overcame Sura. People also pray here for a marriage that keeps getting stalled, for a child, and for their children's studies. A special puja called Satru Samhara Trisathi, for relief from trouble caused by enemies, is held on the waning-moon Sashti or on the devotee's own birth star, booked in advance. Those whose prayers are answered offer abhishekam and new clothes to Murugan. These are acts of devotion, not a substitute for medical or other professional help.