Thirumalaikeni Subramanya Swamy Murugan Temple is one of the oldest temples dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is located in Thirumalaikeni in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu and is dedicated to Lord Murugan or Kartikeya. He is also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, and Shanmukha. The temple is believed to be at least 1,000 years old. What makes this temple so special is that it has a distinguished two-tiered structure. Located in the forest area on the hilltop of Karandamalai, this temple is believed to have been built by the Pandya kings. Reportedly, it was constructed as a hut in the forest. With time, it deteriorated and the original idol of Lord Murugan was buried and merged with the soil.
Later in 1979, Kripanandavariar took up the responsibility of renovating the temple. Since the original idol was buried, a new idol was made for the presiding deity and a mandap was built where the old idol was installed. Further, a temple was constructed above it. It became a two-tier temple with two idols installed on two floors. It was built in a way that the water used for the abhishekam of the Lord on the above temple would also flow down to the Lord on the floor below.
The photos of Lord Murugan built by the Pandya kings and the initial construction by Kripanandavaria are kept in the temple. Apart from this, Lord Murugan’s consorts, Valli and Deivanai are not by his side in the temple. Instead, Vaali Theertham is in the middle of the hill in the form of a well-known Malaikeni- a spring in the hill.
A saint named Mounaguru Swami attained Jeeva Samadhi here, and a separate shrine for him is in the temple. Generally, devotees have to take the stairs up to reach the temple. In this temple, devotees have to step down to reach the Lord. It is also called the temple Kilpalani (Palani downward).
Festivals like Skanda Sashti, Vaikasi Visakam, Chitra Pournami and Thai Poosam are celebrated with utmost pomp in the region.
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