Chennimalai Murugan Temple - Subramanya Swamy Temple

Chennimalai Murugan temple is situated at about 500 meters above sea level and the hill is noted for its natural flora and fauna. The hill is also noticed for rare medicinal herbs in its lush green forests. Centuries ago, there lived a landlord in this town who had hundreds of dairy cows in his farm. Every day the cowherd locks up all the cows in the evening, after they have grazed the whole day. Upon cleaning the field one day, he happened to get a beautiful statue of Lord Murugan. He was ecstatic about finding the idol. Further, he noticed that the idol was beautifully sculpted upto the hip and the lower portion was rough though. The best artisan was called upon to make a complete idol. To shock everyone, on the first chisel, the idol started to bleed. The landlord realized that this is God’s will to be the way it was.

So he consecrated this idol on a nearby hill, which is today known as Chennimalai hill. On the foothills of the temple, we find a stone landmark in the Mandapam built by Vettuva Palayam Velan Thambiran. This gives information on the offering made by Murungai Perunthozhuvar to Lord Murugan during the reign of Kumara Varman Sundara Pandiyan. To the left side of the main entrance, we find an inscription dating back to 1641 AD. The famous ‘Kanda Sashti Kavacham’, a hymn praising Lord Murugan was penned by Sri Bala Devaraya Swamigal at this temple. The hill is home to hundreds of Peacocks, monkeys, rabbits, snakes and other reptiles. Flora includes trees like Neem, Banyan, Tamarind and a variety of shrubs. Mountains of Kodaikanal, Sathyamangalam and Anthiyur forests are clearly visible from the top of the hill. It takes a 15 minutes drive to reach the hill shrine by road and it gives an energetic experience while travelling through the lush green forest and the steep slopes. By walk, one should take around 1300 steps to reach atop.