KADIRKAMAM - MURUGAN SHRINE

In addition to daily worship, four annual festivals are celebrated in the month of Karthika, Chitra, Ani and Adi the last one lasts for sixteen long days. Here again many oddities surface and petrify the aliens. The wedding of Valli with Murugan is celebrated in the month of Ani, when the temple's highly priced precious box is taken out in procession tied to a gaily decorated elephant through the streets of the village. Ladies also join the procession carrying, pots on their heads with burning camphor on the lids. The procession reaches the Valli temple and there some ritualistic worship is performed. With that it comes to an end. An interesting feature of this festival called Perahara in local language, is the lidsty participation by Muslims. Their joy and zeal are commendable. Among the strange legends current in this part about that priceless temple box is - it contains an invaluable manikya which is responsible for the protection of the people eternally. This truth is revealed by Arunagirinathar, who worshipped the Lord with his fine verses on his visit. Another belief circulated among the Bhaktas is that a certain Kashmir devotee, who settled down here had installed a potent yantra in the temple and it is receiving worship behind the screen, but none had any access to it. The object of worship behind the curtain is a mystery of mysteries and none lifted the thick impregnable curtain drawn on it. Regarding the sacredness of the river Manikya also there is a legend. One devout Muslim by name Hilu Alaihi lived to a ripe old age fed on nothing except the holy Manikya water. The Kshetrapalaka of this temple is Sri Mahavishnu and he is adored in a thatched shed. There is one Vinayaka temple on the bank of Manikya and he is worshipped as Manikya Vinayakar. Abounding in such astounding wonders this 'Muruga kshetra is luring devotees in large numbers throughout the year.

It lies 18 km off Thisaimara and 280 kms from Colombo, the capital of Srilanka. Upto Thisaimaram bus journey can be made and from there devotees have to walk.

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