Sikkal Singaravelan Temple - Lord Murugan Temple
Lord Murugan as ‘Singaravelar’ allures his devotees with his bewitching smile at this place Sikkal, a holy shrine near Nagapattinam, though the main deity here is lord Shiva as ‘Navaneetheswarar’. However, the importance is given to lord Murugan only. It is also one among the 275 revered Thevara Paadal Petra Sthalams. It is believed that it was here that Lord Muruga was given his Vel (lance) by his mother Goddess Parvati in order to kill the demon king Surapadman. Later, the demon was killed at Tiruchendur. It is said that the sage Vasishta had made a lingam out of butter and worshipped it to help the divine cow Kamadhenu regain her form. The God appeared and fulfilled his wishes and came to be known as ‘Vennainathar’. Once during a prolonged famine, Kamadhenu ate the flesh of a dead dog and was cursed by God Shiva to turn into a tiger. The God told Kamadhenu that she could regain her original form by bathing in the holy tank of this temple.
It is also believed that Lord Vishnu came here to worship Lord Shiva making deities of both of them here. The most famous festival celebrated in this temple is ‘Maha Skandha Sashti’ which comes in the month October / November. This festival is celebrated for six days and on the fifth day is more prominent. This is the day when Lord Muruga receives the ‘Vel’ from his month. This is known as the ‘Vel Vaangum Thiruvizha’ (Vel lending festival). The amazing fact is that when Lord Muruga receives his Vel, the idol breaks out into profuse sweating. It is believed that this is because of the tension and the anger of the Lord who is ready to kill the Asura. The priests continuously wipe the idol’s face and sprinkle that to the devotees, which is considered auspicious. The sweating subsides only when the Lord returns to his sanctum. The temple has a 7 tiered main gopuram in the entrance which is approximately 80 feet tall. The temple complex is quite large, extending more than a couple of acres. Numerous inscriptions pertaining to the Chola period and the Vijayanagar period were discovered here.