In the famous tamir hymn kanda-sashti kavacham praising god murugan , there appears a line ‘siragiri velavan seekkiram varuga’ meaning ‘god from siragiri mountain , please come’.
siragiri is nothing but chennimalai , the birth place of the most revered murugan hymn kandha sashti kavacham .
chennimalai is a very small town with a beautiful hill housing the famous murugan temple.
the town is about 35 kms from erode on erode – pazhani route with kangayam as the next big town about 19 kms away, 39 kms from thirupur and 90 kms from coimbatore.
nearby town : erode
railway station : uthukuli , erode
contact details : (04294) 250223, 292263, 292595
architecture and temple layout
chennimalai is a mid sized very well maintained temple. on the back of the temple , steps lead to valli – deivanai sannidhis which are about roughly 100 steps higher but build over a ramp. further up on another ramp is the sannidhi of pinnaakku siddhar who lived here.
one could see the twon of chennimalai below and on nights and clear days uthukkuli and perundhurai at a distance.
one of the specialities is that the statues of valli and deivanai are made on a single stone with the kavasams as well. it is not something you would see anywhere. other structural details can be seen from the photos.
temple legend aka sthalapuranam
arulmigu subramanya swami temple , perundurai taluk- erode district also known as siragiri , chennimalai is approximately 3000 years old ancient hill temple.
offering prayers here is considered distinctive. punnaaku ( pinnaakku actually ) siddar,one of the 18 siddars, lived here and attained moksha. the cave where he did his penance can be seen here.
the moolavar is in sevvai ( mars ) amsa and other eight grahas of navagraha, are graciously blessing in deva koshta.
sri arunagiri nathar, the famous tamil poet, has sung five song about this temple in tirupugazh and he received padikasu from lord muruga.the famous sri skanda sasti kavasam was launched by sri bala devaraya swamigal at this temple.
sri valli and sri deivanai, both in one stone, in a separate temple is a unique speciality.
another speciality of this stala is that childless couple, who follow vratha on the sixth day from amavasya (shasti) are blessed with children.
sri sengathurai poosariyar and sri vettuvapalayam poosariyar lived and offered services here. they attained moksha.
decorated bulls carry the abhisheka items through 1320 steps for the daily abhisekam of the moolavar, which is unique to this temple. this temple has maamanga theertha a stream which automatically overflows once in 12 years.
devotees of chennimalai andavar, seek approval through sirasuppoo uttaravu before important activities like marriage, buying & selling property or start of new business.
to the awe of the whole world, on 12.02.1984, twin bullocked cart climbed through the 1320 steps of this hill temple.
the hundi of the hill temple was stolen on thenight of 02.09.2013, but the whole amount was miraculously found on amavasya evening on 05.09.2013
