Many
persons especially from Kerala State make a vow to, perform the first feeding of their
babies in front of the deity.
Cheraman, the great ruler of Kerala, was a great devotee of this deity and he made
enormous endowments of land for upkeep
and performance of daily religious rites and periodical festivals. He constructed the
principal sanctum of the deity too. A figure of the King on horseback, engraved on the
southern wall of the principal shrine, is an indication pointing to this.
Muruga is the special deity of Kurinchi the
highlands, like Malabar, and faces towards the west in this t emple, perhaps towards the
direction of the Kerala highlands. This may be the reason for the presence of considerable
number of pilgrims from Kerala. It may be that as the Kerala King Cheraman favored the
temple his subjects were also attracted. |
