Tirupparankunram

Tirtha (sacred site) ten miles southwest
of Madurai in central Tamil Nadu.
Tirupparankunram is famous for one of
the six temples in Tamil Nadu built to
honor Murugan, a hill deity assimilated
into the pantheon as a form of Skanda.
It is said to be where he marries
Devasena, the bride given by Indra and
the gods after he has proven his mettle
in battle, and thus reflects his acceptance into the larger pantheon. Five of
these temples are definitively identified
and scattered throughout the state, but
the sixth is said to be every other shrine
to Murugan in Tamil Nadu. The cult of
Murugan is thus a symbolic vehicle for
Tamil pride and identity, and because
the number six has connotations of
completeness—as in the six directions,
or the six chakras in the subtle body—it
also connotes that nothing outside is
needed. For further information see
Fred Clothey, “Pilgrimage Centers in the
Tamil Cultus of Murukan,” in Journal of
the American Academy of Religion, Vol.
40, No. 1, 1972.