Swamimalai Swaminathaswamy Temple

Swamimalai has an older name, Thiruveragam. In Nakkeerar's Thirumurugatruppadai it appears among Murugan's abodes, and the temple's HR&CE page notes that thirteen lines of the poem are about Thiruveragam.

The sthala puranam here turns on the Pranava. When Murugan asked the meaning of Om, Brahma could not answer, the puranam says. Murugan imprisoned him and took over creation himself. When Shiva later asked the same question, Murugan is said to have whispered the meaning into his father's ear. Because he became the teacher of his own father, he is called Swaminathan, and the Dinamalar temple page says the hill is also known as Gurumalai for this reason. The layout itself recalls the story, with Murugan on the hilltop and Shiva at its foot.

The temple does not stand on a natural hill but on an artificial mound. The TN Temples Project page calls this special in a district with few elevated places. Sixty steps lead up, and tradition says they stand for the sixty years of the Tamil cycle. The main image is about six feet tall and holds a staff. In front of the sanctum an elephant stands in place of the usual peacock, and tradition says it was a gift from Indra.

How the hill came here has its own story. The Kanda Puranam says the sage Agastya asked Idumban to carry two hills south, to keep the earth balanced. Murugan is said to have set one at Palani and the other at Swamimalai.

At the foot of the hill are the shrines of Sundareswarar and Meenakshi, and Murugan's shrine is above. The sacred tree is the nelli (amla), and it is believed that Bhoomadevi, who worshipped Murugan here to be freed of a curse, stayed on as that tree; and the sacred tanks are the Saravana Theertham and Brahma Theertham. Arunagirinathar sang 38 Thiruppugazh hymns on this temple that survive today, according to the temple's website. The TN Temples Project page adds that it is regarded as the Murugan parivara shrine of the Mahalingaswamy temple at Thiruvidaimarudur.

The shrine is sung in Nakkeerar's Thirumurugatruppadai (Sangam literature) and in Arunagirinathar's Thiruppugazh. According to the HR&CE Department's record, two inscriptions stand to the right of the south rajagopuram entrance: one from the time of Krishnadevaraya (1514–15 CE) and one from the time of the Thanjavur Nayak Sevappa Nayak (1573–74 CE). Both concern property given to the temple, and both are damaged. The hill is a built mound of granite, and the sixty steps climb some sixty feet. There are three prakarams: one at the foot, one halfway up and one around the sanctum. A five-tiered rajagopuram stands on the south, a three-tiered tower at the entrance to the hill shrine and a low tower on the west, all said by the department to have been built by the Chettiar community. On a south wall of the temple, a picture poem called Thiruezhukootrirukkai is carved in marble in the shape of a chariot. The latest kumbhabhishekam was on 9 September 2015. The temple is run by the HR&CE Department. The department names the ten-day Thirukarthigai festival in Karthigai as the biggest here, drawing lakhs of devotees. Vaikasi Visakam, the Chithirai Brahmotsavam, Kanda Sashti, Thai Poosam and the Valli wedding at Panguni Uthiram are also major events. On the Tamil and English New Year days a padi puja is held for the sixty steps.