Tiruchuli Thiruvalluvar Temple is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple at Periya Pudupatti in

Tiruchuli Tiruchuli is a Panchayat town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indi ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, dedicated to poet-saint

Valluvar Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar, was a Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exc ...

, the author of the

Kural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

text. It is one of the few temples in the state of Tamil Nadu dedicated to Valluvar. Valluvar is worshiped as the 64th nayanmar of the

Shaivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

tradition and is taken in annual procession.

History

The Thiruvalluvar temple at Tiruchuli was constructed in 1929. Initial worship began with poojas performed to a picture of Valluvar, to whom a statue was later sculpted.

The temple

The temple is located near Periya Pudupatti village of

near

Aruppukkottai Aruppukottai is a town and a municipality in Virudhunagar district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Aruppukottai's classical name is "Sengattu irukkai idathuvali". Aruppukottai is about 50 km from Madurai. It is in the middle of Vellore-T ...

Virudhunagar district Virudhunagar District is a district (an administrative district) of Tamil Nadu state in south India. Virudhunagar is the district headquarters of Virudhunagar district. Virudhunagar district was formed by the separation of Old Ramanathapuram D ...

of Tamil Nadu. The villagers of Periya Pudupatti regard saint Valluvar as a common deity and have the tradition of worshiping him before initiating any new venture such as conducting a wedding. Annual festivals at the temple include the Thiruvalluvar Day in January and the full moon day in the

Tamil month The Tamil calendar (தமிழ் நாட்காட்டி) is a sidereal solar calendar used by the Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used in Puducherry, and by the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singap ...

of ''Maasi'' (February–March). Customs during these festivals include making vows and redeeming them by carrying pots of sprouted lentils (mullaipari) on their heads. Pongal is cooked during these festivals and Valluvar's idol is taken in a procession as the 64th nayanmar of the

tradition, after which the dish is offered to Valluvar. The pujas are performed according to Hindu tradition with camphor, garlands, and lighting of lamps. The chief worshipers in the Periya Pudupatti village are the Valluvar community, who are into fortune-telling. Nevertheless, people of all religions visit the temple and make offerings.

Festivals

The temple conducts the annual ''guru pooja'' during the Tamil month of ''Maasi'' (February–March), on the death anniversary of Valluvar. Locals claim that this is the only temple that conducts a guru pooja for Valluvar.

Citations

References

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History

The temple

Festivals

See also

Citations

References

Further reading