Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple

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Author: 
prakash manjrekar
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0:03:59

Thiruparankundram temple (Cave temple) is situated 8 km south from Madurai district, dedicated to the Lord Subramanya. The main shrine is an early rock cut temple which has cells that house the sanctums of Subramanya, Durga, Vinayakar, Shiva and Vishnu. All the statues are carved on the wall of the parankundram rock. A curious feature of this temple is that the Gods Shiva and Vishnu face each other in the main shrine, and this is a rare thing in ancient Hindu temples.There are five Theerthams, or divine water sources, in and around the temple. There are several architectural features of interest, especially the rock cut portions of this hill temple dating back to the Pandya period and the life sized sculptures in the mandapams of the Nayakar period.