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The third in our series of the 6 padai veedu temples of Lord Muruga is Swamimalai,
situated 8 kilometres from the temple town of Kumbakonam. Closeby is the Vinayaka temple of Thiruvalanchuzhi, which sadly is in a state of neglect.
The temple has been constructed on an artificial hill. The sthalam is also known as siragiri, shivagiri and
sundarachalam.
The town is small and the temple stands majestically in the heart of it. It is easily accessible via buses and trains.
The outermost prakaram of this temple is at the ground level. The second one is half way up the stairs, and the innermost prakaram is around the Swaminathan shrine. At the lower level are shrines to Meenakshi and Sundareswarar and the prakaram where the ratham is taken in procession on special occasions.
 Though the temple has three entrances, it is the southern entrance of the temple that has a 5 tiered rajagopuram. The main sannadi is situated 60 feet above ground level and there are 60 steps to reach it. Iit is said that each of these steps represent one tamil year. Facing the sanctum is an elephant and not a peacock.
Legend
One of the epithet's of Lord Muruga is
"thagappan swami". He got this name as He taught the meaning of the Omkaram to His own father, Lord Shiva. Legend has it that one day, Lord Brahma came to Mount Kailash and went past Lord Muruga without paying His respects. On seeing him, Karthikeya asked "Who are you?" to which Lord Brahma "I am Brahma, the Creator". Skanda questioned him next on how he created people. Brahma replied that he did so by chanting
vedas.
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 Muruga wasn't satisfied and asked Brahma to show him how. Brahma started withthe
Omkaram. At this, Muruga stopped him and told him to tell the meaning of
om. When Brahma said he didnt know, Muruga got angry and imprisoned him saying how can the creator not know the meaning of
Om.
The other Gods became agitated at this and led by Lord Vishnu, they pleaded with Muruga to release the Creator. But it was of no avail. They approached Lord Shiva and beseeched him to rescue Brahma. Lord Shiva asked
Muruga if he knew the meaning of Om. At this, Muruga sat and told him the meaning - thus becoming the teacher to his own father. Thus he also got the name
Swaminathan.
Lord Muruga is seen here in all his splendor. On his right hand he has his weapon, the
dandayudham, and he strikes a pose with his left hand at his hip. There are also shrines to
Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi, Veerabaagu, Arunagirinathar, Surya, Chandra,
Idumban, and Dhandayutapani here.
It is said that Mother Earth was born here - she is present in the form of a gooseberry tree
(Nelli maram). This is the sthala vriksham.
The waters of this sthalam are vajra
theertham, saravana theertham, nethra pushkarani, Kumarattura and brahma
theertham.
Legend has it that a blind devotee was blessed with eyesight after a dip in the Netra Theertham as he arrived at the Netra Vinayakar shrine.
Festivals
Each day, special prayers are carried out
six times. The Kartikai star each month is very famous here. Skanda Sashti lasting for 6 days is one of the most important festivals celebrated here.
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