Palamuthir Solai

This is a famous Murugan temple in Madurai. Lord Murugan is supposed to have 6 abodes and 2 of them are in Madurai. They are Thiruparamkundram and Palamuthir Solai.

I went there late morning yesterday. This temple is up on a hill and it is a good 8 minutes drive from the base of the hill to the temple. I was amazed to see so many people climbing up that steep hill to reach the temple. It was a warm day and it must be at least a half an hour walk uphill. My driver noted that Indians are the one group of people who will put in lots of effort, energy and work for their religion. Seeing them climb up the hill on a warm day, put up with crowds and the waiting everywhere, I must agree with that view.

The hill is densely forested and there are so many monkeys all over the place on the way up to and at the temple itself.

Again I was fortunate to be able to go right up to the front of the deity and have darshan performed. Right next to the deity Murugan is that of his Vell where  another darshan was  performed.

This is a much smaller temple but it nevertheless attracts many devotees. By the time I was there at about 1030am, there were thousands of people in the temple and many more outside. Lots of people were climbing up and down the hill as well.

At the base of the temple, is another temple, the Alagar temple. This is a big temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Many Tamil songs from the 1960s, especially from the devotional movies, have featured the name of this place. I listened to them growing up and I have now finally visited this place.