Erukkur Upuchi Amman Temple, Mayiladuthurai

Address

Erukkur village,

Mayiladuthurai District,

Tamil Nadu– 609108.

Amman

Upuchi Amman

Introduction

Erukkur Upuchi Amman Temple is located in the Erukkur village, Mayiladuthurai district, Tamil Nadu. Here the primary deity is called as Upuchi amman and she is also known as Erukur Kali. If you travel six kilometres on the Sirkazhi-Chidambaram road and get off at the Erukkur bus stop, you can easily reach the Upuchi Amman temple on the banks of the Pudumanni River. The Temple is believed to be 300 years old.

Puranic Significance

About 300 years ago Kolli was a forest with a river flowing through it. Only a few families lived here. Then one day a woman came to fetch water from the Pudumanni River which runs south of this town. On the way, a bangle seller asked him for water for his thirst, he lowered the pot he was carrying on his head and tried to give her water, and he tried to approach the woman inappropriately. There was no one in sight to direct her terrified gaze. That girl who doesn’t know what to do, save Kali! Screaming, unexpectedly, a foot kicked the merchant. The blackness overturned him and he fell into an area full of plants and bushes. She went to the villager and told the details and the people of the village came to the place and saw it. There the bangle seller was stabbed by Parashakti’s spear and lay dead. Immediately after the voice of the village people came running to ask who you are, a strange voice sounded. Everyone was stunned to realize that it was Thillai Kali who had brought it. Later, the villagers decided to build a temple for Goddess Kali on the spot where the evil-minded bangle dealer was executed. That is how the Upuchi Amman temple was built.

Beliefs

If you pray to the goddess who attends the Uchikala Puja which is held after 12 noon on the Friday full moon and new moon days, the ban on marriage will be removed. The hope is that the child will be blessed.

If people with mental problems are brought to this temple and made to sit in the Maha Mandapam and their close relatives anoint the goddess and pray, the mental health of the affected gradually improves.

Special Features

The temple is facing north facing the river bank. While the altar is located in the Mahamandapam, Ganesha and Murugan give darshan in the Artha Mandapam. In the sanctum sanctorum Upuchi Amman stands in a north-facing posture and appears aggressively as if slaying the monster with six tirukas. It is said that it got its name as Erukkur because of the dense growth of castor trees. People of the village say that it is surprising that castor trees have not grown in the area where the temple complex is located, even though the plants around the temple have grown in abundance.