Sri Subramanyaswami Temple

Overview

Vallimalai is a village located in the Katpadi taluk of Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, India. The village lies about 30Kms from Vellore and is situated very close to Ponnai. This place is well known for a popular Subramaniya Swamy temple which has Lord Muruga as its presiding deity.

Legend and Stories

Legends say that Vallimalai is the place where, Lord Muruga is said to have met Valli, one of his consorts. Valli, the daughter of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi was born at this place and was later raised by the chief of the village tribe. (According to legends, a sweat drop from Goddess Lakshmi that fell on a grass at this place, was later on consumed by a female deer. Hence Valli is believed to have been born to this Deer). Valli grew up to become a beautiful woman, who was wooed by none other than Lord Muruga himself. After several failed attempts, with the help of his brother Ganesha, Lord Muruga and Valli were at last united. They eloped from Vallimalai and to get married and settle down at Thanigai malai (Thirutthani).

Vallimalai is said to be very close to Valli’s heart, thus the trio of Valli, Murugan and Deivaanai are believed to eternally grace this place. A Thiruppugazh Ashramam is located on top of Vallimalai, where the tradition of Valli lives on.

The Subramaniyar temple is a rock cut temple dedicated to Murugan. This temple was built by the Pallavas atop the Vallimalai hill. The temple is regarded as a monument of national importance in the state of Tamil Nadu. One another legend associated with Vallimalai goes by that there is a Lord Venkatachalapathy temple located at the foot of this hill, where Lord Vishnu's moorthy appears like a saint. Ancient tales describes an event where Goddess Lakshmi is believed to have taken the form of a deer and had playfully disturbed the meditating Lord Vishnu. The lord fell for her beauty and thus out of his divine powers, a beautiful daughter was born. The couple left their daughter at that kingdom so that its childless king, who was also their faithful devotee could raise her as his daughter. Later, the king is believed to have found the child in a Vaḷḷikizhaṅku field, and thus named her Valli.

The Venkatachalapathy temple has a vigraha (Idol) of the deity, which is said to be a Swayambu murthi. The Lord here is believed to bestow childless devotees with children, on worshipping him. The Western Ganga dynasty ruler, Raja Mallan-I is credited to have carved caves for Jain monks who had lived in this area, in order to spread their religion in the southern region.

Festivals

The Brahmmotsavam in this temple celebrated in the tami month of Masi (from mid February to mid March). The birth day of Lord Muruga falls on the Vaikasi Visakam (May-June). Aadi float festival in July-August, Tirukarthikai in November-December and Thaipoosam in January-February are the other prominently celebrated festivals in this temple.

Significance

Those facing problems due to the bad positioning of the planet Mars according to their respective birth horoscope (Sevvai dosham), worship the Lord here on Tuesdays, with red flowered garlands and also offer curd rice as nivedham to get relief from the dosha.

Thanks Giving

Devotees perform various rituals such as abhisheka and aradhanas to the deity. They also offer vastras to Lord Muruga, along with honey and Thinai (corn flour) as nivedhyam.

How To Reach

Airport

Vellore doesn’t have an airport of its own. There is just a airstrip in Vellore that is still not operational. The Thirupathi and Chennai airports are the closest to this place.

Railways

The nearest railways station is Vellore station.

Road

Vallimalai is situated at a distance of 25 km from Vellore. Buses bound to Ponnai have to pass through Vallimalai. Other than this, buses plying through the Sholingar pass, must also pass through Vallimalai.

Temple Address

Sri Subramaniaswami Temple,
Vallimalai, Katpadi taluk,
Vellore district,
Tamil Nadu, Pincode - 632 520.