Arulmigu Sri Subramaniya Swamy Temple

Located in the Ambalavananendal village in the Pudukkottai district, this temple has a very interesting legend associated with it. It is believed that for 10 years, a lamp was lit at this temple using water instead of oil. The story goes that a sincere devotee of Lord Muruga, called Arunachalam Udayar, had promised to pray to Lord Muruga every Panguni Uthiram, by walking to Palani. Unfortunately on one occasion, he suffered from a serious illness. In spite of that, he managed to reach Palani. After reaching Palani, Arunachalam Udayar prayed to Lord Muruga to end his life because he would no longer be able to keep up his promise to the Lord. Lord Muruga, however, appeared in his dream and told him to perform a puja to the Vel that the temple priest would give him and that he could take it to his village and pray there, for that itself would be equivalent to praying at Palani. Arunachalam Udayar, was sad that he did not have any money to buy oil to light a lamp, but the Lord told him to light the lamp using water. The next day, the temple priest gave Arunachalam Udayar the vel and he got it back to his village. Since then, he performed puja to the vel for 10 years, by lighting a lamp using water, till he attained salvation. Another story says that at a time when farmers had to travel more than 100 km to gather stones for building this temple, Lord Muruga helped them overcome their problems and made them build this temple. It is believed that Lord Muruga protects the village from harm.