Uthiyur Uthanda Velayudhaswamy Temple

Uthiyur Uthanda Velayudhaswamy Temple

Shri Uthanda Velayudhaswamy temple is located on a small hill at Uthiyur a small village in Kangeyam Taluk -Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu.This historic 9th century old Hindu temple is dedicated to Lord Velayudhasamy, a form of Kartikeya and his consorts Valli and Deivanai.

This temple is considered auspicious for Kongu Velalar Gounder community as it is partionised by sage Konganar who is a Siddhar from the same community.

This temple is situated 100 steps above the ground on top of the Uthiyur hills. The temple entrance is on the south side. In the east is the Rajagopuram with the gate. In the sanctum sanctorum, Uthanda Velayudha Swami stands five feet high towards the east.In the main shrine, Velayudhaswamy appears with his spear and peacock.It is noteworthy that his statue is located towards the west in the direction of Lord Palani.Adjacent to him are the shrines of Lord Ganesha and Bhairava.

As per legends, this hill was the abode of several Siddhars. The most notable among them was Shri Konganar. He did penance in a cave in this hill and Lord Shiva appeared before him. Despite his spiritual activities, Konganar was also having scientific curiosity. He was interested in Rasa Vaadam ( converting base metals into gold). He was doing some experiments here using herbal juices and a fire pit. For stoking the fire pit as well as to pour the herbal juices, he used clay pipes, some of which are still seen in this temple.

Since he blew into the tubes ( Oodudhal in Tamil ), this hill came to be called Oodhiyur Malai which over a period of time, came to be known as Uthiyur. It is also known as Kongana Giri. As per another story, when Hanuman carried the Sanjeevi Hills, a part of it fell here and hence the local people also call it as Sanjeevi Hill. In view of the gold experiment, it is also known as Pon Uthiyur ( Pon=gold ).

There are many festivals celebrated in this temple like Kruthika, star days of every month, Chitra poornima, new moon days, Thalai Aadi, Vaikasi Visakam, and all Fridays are also special in this temple. Deepavali, Navarathri, Panguni Uthiram and Karthikai Deepam are the grand festivals of this Uthiyur Velayudhaswamy Murugan Temple.