Vellakoil Veerakumaraswamy Murugan Temple, Erode

Address

Vellakoil, Tirupur District,

Tamil Nadu 638111
Phone Number: 04257-260519
Email: vellakovilveerakkumaraswamy@gmail.com

Moolavar

Veerakumaraswamy Murugan

Introduction

The Sri Vellakoil Veera Kumaraswamy Murugan Temple is one of the ancient temples in kongu mandalam (kangayanadu). An important fact about this temple is that only males are allowed into the temple premises to worship the Lord, and the females are not allowed. This practice has been going on since more than a decade. The place is called “Vellaikovil” alias vellakovil (or) vellakoil. The temple is located in the Thiruppur district on the main road of Karur-Kovai that is located in the Vellakovil Town.

Puranic Significance

The temple has a rich history which is about 1000 years old. During this period, this place was fully covered by forests. One of the notable people of that period was Aantha kula Nallana Gounder. The son of Nallana Gounder, Mudali Gounder appointed Santhana Nadar as the person who was responsible for cattle management in his area. At the time of milking, it was found that one of them had no milk. Nallana Gounder suspected Santhana Nadar. This situation continued for some days and later Santhana Nadar discovered that the milk was discharged by the cow itself in a sand castle (puttru). The following day, Mudali Gounder too, found a similar scene, that the cow dispensed milk at the puttru and a snake came out with a childlike face and drank the milk. He was amazed and thought it to resemble Lord Muruga. Mudali Gounder organized to construct a shrine. The God is known by various names like Veera kumara,Veera kumar and Veera kumaran!

Special Features

The sculpture that dates back to the 1800’s is seen in the construction of the temple. The reconstruction work began on the 24th of June, 1974 and Kumbhabheshegam was completed on the 5th of September, 2005. This temple was chosen by Salem Chinnamalai Gounder. Kannimar swamisgal and Siddhars, Veera Kumar’s footwear, the statue of Palani Gounder, Balavinayagar’s statue, the Pechiamman temples, the statues of Naripalani Gounder, Karuppana Swamy and Kumarappa Gounder, Sellappa Gounder, etc are established in the holy place too. The Royal Tower and temple car are the majestic additions to the temple.

Festivals

Towards the outside, in the southern part of the temple, there exists a sand tower called Puttru. Another feature of this temple is Potli, and it is probably the cracker used in the temple. Devotees worship the Karkkattan tree in the temple as a divine tree. The god Veerakumaran belongs to 11 sections of the people of Konguvellala community. Non-following of vaasthu (building rules and practices) and no entry for woman in moolavar temple are the other unique features of this temple. Pantaram, a section of people, traditionally perform the regular pooja (prayer) procedure in the temple. On Monday and Friday special pooja procedures are arranged in the temple. Pournami (Full Moon day), Amavasai, Kirthigai, Pongal and New Year’s Day are the special pooja days. Sandal and turmeric are the main things that are used while worshipping the God. Those who are unable to participate in this pooja, can get vibuthi & prasadham via post by paying the fee. Special archanas like Kaalasanthi Kattalai, Ucchikaala Kattalai will be done on a particular day with the name and star according to the wish of the donor. Every day, after the Uchikala pooja in the Vellakoil temple, ‘Annadhanam’ is given to the devotees.