Travel Guide - http://www.ixigo.com/travel-guide/palani page 1

Famous For : City head, dressed in a loincloth like a sanyasi, What To bearing a staff and not the , his sacred Palani Palani is one of the famous pilgrim town in spear.In the south-west corner of the first India with millions of devotees coming every Palani or Pazhani traces its name to prakaram is the samadhi of Sage Bhogar. year. The town has one of the most sacred There is a small altar where the walls are Pazhamnee, which in turn came SEE shrines of the Lord Subrahmanya, as 3 Sights painted with a pictorial depiction of how from pazham (fruit) and nee (you). worshipped in the Hindu sect of . http://www.ixigo.com/places-to-visit-see-in-palani-lp-1778499 Sage Bhogar came to live here and how he This scenic town is blessed with a The Thandayudhapani Temple, dedicated to made the idol of Dhandayuthapani. An rich colorful fauna life, lofty hills, Lord Murugan and is regarded as one of the 1 Dhandayuthapani Swamy underground tunnel connects this shrine to some exhilarating adventure six Aarupadai Veedu (sacred hill homes), is Temple the main sanctum. This temple has three sporting prospects and is a home situated here. prakarams, two atop the hill. While the outer to the auspicious temple of god prakaram takes you around the whole . temple, the inner prakaram is smaller. The third prakaram is at the bottom of the hill, which is 2.4 km long, in keeping with the circumference of the hill. The daunting 693 On Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu, India steps (alternatively, you can take a rope car or a winch) lead you to the temple, perched Lord Murugan is worshipped in Palani as at 1,500 ft, from where you get a spectacular Dhandayudhapani Swamy, the ‘Lord with view of the Idumban and Kodai Hills, paddy the Staff in his Hand’. The Dhandayuthapani fields, rivers and Palani town. Swamy Temple located atop the Sivagiri Hill was built by King Cheraman Perumal in the 2 Tiru Avinankudi Temple 9th century CE and expanded over the centuries by the Nayaks, Pandyas, Kongu Palani, Tamil Nadu Cholas and the kings of Mysore and Vijayanagar. The idol here is the only one of Tiru Avinankudi Temple is the third its kind known to mankind. It has been Aarupadai Veedu of Subrahmanya. The shaped from navabhashanam, an amalgam presiding deity is Velayutha Swamy. It is a of nine minerals, the secret behind the beautiful rock temple with a remarkable combination of which is no longer known. main altar — probably the only one that has Its composition has healing properties. Sage the sacred idol of Subrahmanya as a child Bhogar is credited with crafting and This Pdf and its contents are copyright © perched on the peacock with his vel. Here, 2013,ixigo.com, all rights reserved. ixigo logo, the installing it here over 5,000 years ago. character and all other marks displayed herein are the vel is studded with diamonds. registered and/or common law trademarks of ixigo.com and/or third parties. Subrahmanya is said to be holding court The vigraham (idol) is also unique for it is a here, resolving disputes of deities and standing Subrahmanya with a clean-shaven Palani Travel Guide - http://www.ixigo.com/travel-guide/palani page 2 devotees alike. Where To

The temple has three prakarams — two inside and one outside, around the Palani Eat Hill, which is common to both this temple 1 Places and the one atop the hill. It has a six-tiered http://www.ixigo.com/foods-in-of-palani-lp-1778499 rajagopuram with colourful stucco sculptures and a large temple tank. There 1 Hotel Saffhire are small altars to other deities and paintings, which were added later. An R.F Road, Near kannan departmental interesting spot in the temple is the small store sannidhi just outside the sanctum with 8825535592 stone sculptures that explain how the Thiruavinankudi Temple got its name (Thiru = Lakshmi, Aa = Kamadenu, Inan = Surya, Ku = Bhoomadevi, Di = Agni meditated here). Devotees perform girivalam (circumambulation of the hill), which is considered to be the third prakaram, before heading for the Dhandayuthapani Temple on the hilltop

3 Periyayudayar Temple

Palani, Tamil Nadu

On the eastern banks of the Shanmugha River, a gentle breeze and birdsong serenade this temple in the mornings and evenings. is seen as Brihadeeswarar, or Periyayudayar (he who is great) in the form of a swayambhu lingam. Only male gods are found in this temple; among them is a stately image of Dakshinamurti, a rare sculpture that features Shiva in the Rudra thandava pose.