Thanumalayan Temple (7/23/23)

As we drove into Suchindram, the streets were crowded.  This small temple town is linked to the Virgin Goddess, Kumari.  It is believed that Shiva rested here by the banks of the Pelayar river.

We saw many tourist buses here and many Indians travel to this area to come to this temple. 

Many shop owners try to lure us in.  I am so thankful for Shaji who helps to keep us safe.  We have had some women begging at our car windows for food.

The temple has seven levels.  No one is allowed to enter the top of the temple anymore but there is so much to see on the ground floor.  You are not allowed to take pictures inside the temple.

This temple is dedicated to the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. There are a few shrines from the 13th century. The engineering was precision.  There were 4 hallways around the complex with large, intricate granite pillars and they were perfectly lined up. You could lay a straightedge to them. 

Marshall and all men had to take their shirts off to enter the temple.  It is so they can absorb all of the positive energy.  Yes, we both got a kick out of how he almost glowed in his paleness. We witnessed many people standing in line to give an offering at different shrines throughout.  He pointed out one for young married women who have not been able to get pregnant.  They come here with an offering in hopes to conceive. You would offer a few rupees to a worker and they would give you a handful of ash, white or with color.  You would place this on the rock or statue or whatever was at that particular station dedicated to that particular god. 

Again, we were barefoot and we just leave our shoes on the outside with some random person.  Most are strewn about.

One of the highlights inside the temple is the musical stone pillars. A single block of granite was carved into multiple pillars.  When each pillar is tapped, it generates a different musical note.  There was a special man who played the pillars for us and then we had to tip him at the end.

Our tour guide was excellent and explained everything to us.  We did not pay to get into the temple so we tipped him very well at the end of the tour.

This is the temple bathing area.  The priest would come here to clean himself before going into the temple. Someone was bathing under the blue awning on the left. He would dunk under, stay a few seconds and come up and rub his face and head.  Then rinse and repeat.

The streets near the temple are beautiful.  They have mosaic tiles in them.  They have festivals in April and October when they carry chariots on their shoulders with wooden poles.  We saw some of the chariots and the wooden poles inside of the temple area.

Our tour guide is one of the men who carries the chariots.  You should have seen his shoulders.  He had large bumps on them where the poles would sit.