Sivanmalai Subramaniyaswamy Temple

On the Tirupur-Kangeyam road, three kilometres short of Kangeyam, Sivanmalai rises alone out of the fields to about 400 ft above sea level. Greet the Ganesha under the joined peepal and neem at the foot and climb the 496 steps, or take the two-kilometre tarred road that winds to the top. In the sanctum Murugan stands as Sivachalapathi with Valli, and the festival image shows him in wedding form with Valli and Devasena. The hill is called Sivamalai to say that Shiva and Skanda are one.

The temple legend goes like this. When Shiva bent the Himalaya into a bow to destroy the asuras, a small piece broke off and fell here as this hill. Herbs that dropped from the Sanjeevi mountain as Hanuman flew with it to save Lakshmana took root on its slopes. The hill was gold in the first age, silver in the second, copper in the third and stone in this one, and because Uma did penance on it, it is also Shakti Sivamalai. The presiding deity is the son of the Shiva of Pattaliyur, four kilometres behind the hill. When Murugan came this way after marrying Valli, her hunter kinsmen fought him and were all killed; at Valli's grief he brought them back to life, and the joyful uproar they raised, "pattali", gave Pattaliyur its name. A humble woman named Sadaichi, who swept the temple, longed to bathe just once in the Ganga at Kashi, and for her sake Murugan brought the Ganga to the garden behind the hill. The spot is Aatha Kulam today, with a shrine of Sadaichi Amman beside it.

What draws everyone is the Uthiravu Petti. Murugan appears in a devotee's dream and names an object; the devotee brings it, the Lord's consent is sought with flowers, and if it is given the object goes into the box and stays there until the next command. Devotees have found that the object foretells what is coming: turmeric in the box was followed by a rise in turmeric prices, a bicycle by bicycles falling out of use, water by the tsunami, and soil by rising land prices. Because he signals the cause of things in advance, Murugan here is Karana Kadavul, the God of reasons.

There is much more to see. Near the Nataraja shrine is a stucco image of the Siddhar Sivavakkiyar worshipping Murugan; devotees feel the Siddhar still meditates in a cave in the inner prakaram, where a lamp is never allowed to go out. Suralokanathar with Suraloka Nayaki is prayed to for fevers. There is an east-facing Sani like the one at Thirunallar, Navagrahas who all face the Sun, a shrine of the Nine Maidens who were freed of a curse here, and an old Bhairava. Dakshinamurthy is on the south, Kannimoola Ganapathi in the south-west, Gnana Dhandayuthapani in the north-west and Durga on the north. On the "Purana Padi", the step where disputes were once judged, Sadaichi Amman sits watching over justice.

Nahusha was freed of his curse here, Agastya received the six-syllable mantra, Indra won back his heaven and Saraswathi her gift of speech, all by worshipping this Murugan. The sacred tree is the thoratti. The temple tank is held equal to Saravana Poigai, and the hill also has the Agastya, Indra, Mangala, Veera and Brahmananda theerthams.

Sivanmalai was the capital of Kangeya Nadu, one of the twenty-four divisions of the old Kongu country, and the gemstones that the Sangam work Pathitruppathu says were shipped to Rome were mined in this area. Kongu chieftains ruled the hill until the 13th century, then the Vijayanagara kings and after them the Madurai Nayaks. The temple has 13 inscriptions, one of them from the Chola period of the 13th century, and 17 more are cut into the pillars of the Palvenneeswarar shrine, alongside musical pillars and rare sculpture. Arunagirinathar sang of this Murugan in the Thiruppugazh, and the Sivamalai Kuravanji describes the temple's rituals and the people who served it. Six families of hereditary priests of the Palani Iyer line, of the Kasyapa gotra, still conduct the worship by the Agamas. A new five-tiered rajagopuram, built from temple funds, was consecrated on 4 July 2014. The temple is run by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.

People pray here, often with a Trishati archana, for marriage, children, success in work, good harvests and recovery from illness. Those troubled by long fevers cook pepper rasam, offer it to Suralokanathar and drink it as prasadam. Devotees also hold that worship here brings the merit of worshipping the Sun and the Sani of Thirunallar. Krittika, Sashti, new-moon and full-moon days are special. These are devotional customs; for any illness, see a doctor.