There was once three evil brothers, Soorapadman, Simhamukha and Tarakasura who captured all the three worlds, heaven, earth and hell. They then torture all the devas, the heavenly immortals, to do a medial task.

The Devas were unable to handle their torture and complained to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva opened his third eye to create a son to kill these evil demons. This son is none other than Lord Murugan.

With his huge army, Lord Murugan camped at Thiruchendur. The Lord sent his lieutenant, Veerabhu, to Soorapadman and asked to release the Devas. Soorapadman refused and for 6 days an intense war took place. During the first 5 days of the battle, Soorapadman’s brother and all the other demons were defeated.

Soorapadman continued to fight bravely and at last, realized that his final opponent was none other than Lord Murugan himself. Therefore, he fled the battlefield and took the form of a Mango tree.


Lord Murugan realized this and with His lance broke the frightful mango tree into two. The two broken pieces immediately transformed into a might rooster and a peacock. Henceforth, Lord Murugan took the peacock as his vehicle and the rooster on his banner. Read about all Lord Murugan's victorious battles here: Battles of Lord Kartikeya, the Mighty Warrior

To commemorate this win against evil, the famous Thiruchendur Murugan temple was built. Every year, the Soorasamharam festival is grandly welcomed in this shrine. In a six days festival, a ritual folk performance recreating the killing of the demon by Lord Murugan will take place. Apart from that, did you know, Thiruchendur Murugan Temple Fought Colonialists and Tsunami?

The Thiruchendur Murugan temple is also part of the six abodes of Lord Murugan mentioned in Thirumugaatrupadai, a classical Tamil poem written by Saint Nakkeerar.





Picture Credit: Indus Ladies, Siruguru Milton, Murugan.org