Vengeri Sri Subrahmanya Swamy Temple

Sri Subramanya Swami Temple is located at Vengeri near Calicut in the state of Kerala.Vengeri Sri Subrahmanya Swami temple is believed to have a history of more than a thousand years. Unlike other temples in the vicinity, the entire structure is situated on the top of an elevated land. It’s known among devotees that Lord Subrahmanya loves to live on highlands and hilltops.

Legend

Sometimes during the golden era of Indian culture, sculpture, tradition and philosophy, a group of brahmins from Thanjavur happened to travel to West for some reason. Along with their articles, they were carrying an idol of lord Muruga also. While crossing the land where the temple stands now, the team decided to pause and take some rest.

They put their head loads down. Kept the Muruga idol behind a Venga tree, and for safety they leaned the idol towards the tree and moved to the nearby river for bath and washing. Once they finished and came back to get the idol back, to their surprise, they found that the idol was stuck there and remained unmovable.

The Brahmins tried their best to get their Murugan idol back, but all efforts ended up in vein. Later they realized that, the place they kept the idol was a sacred land and that’s the right location to construct an abode for the lord and worship him.

They found similarities to Palani there. There was a beautiful stream on the North with fresh water. The soil on the land smelt sandal and appeared in bright saffron in colour.

The serenity of the place fascinated the Brahmins. They realized that it’s Lord Subrahmanya’s wish to sit there and bless the humanity. With the help of people living in the village they constructed a beautiful temple for Subrahmanya Swami. The temple was totally in Kerala architecture style and within short period of time, became very famous.

As the God himself found leaning towards the Venga tree, the temple is called Vengachari temple (chari means “leaning towards” in Malayalam).Venga Chari became Vengeri and later on, the village where the temple is situated also called after the temple as Vengeri.

Venga is one of the favourite trees of Lord Subrahmanya. In Skanda Purana, from verses 14 to 24, consists the story of Lord Muruga tries to persuade Valli to marry him. When Valli’s father appeared in the scene, Lord himself has taken the form of a Venga Tree to disguise from him.

Thaipuyam – As Puyam is very special to Sri Subramanya Swami, temple used to celebrate Puyam day of Makara month with special pooja, Abishekam, Subramanya sahasranama archana.
Sashti Vratham is observed on the sixth day of the waxing phase of moon (ShuklaPaksha) in a Hindu month. Special poojas are undertaken at this day in the temple. It is believed that Vratham observed on this day makes one’s married life successful.