The Thiruchendur Murugan Temple (properly known as Thiruchendur Arulmigu Senthilnathar Temple) located in the Tuticorin District, India, is considered to be one of the 6 abodes of the Tamil God Murugan the son of Shiva.

 

Known as Jayanthipuram during the Puranic time, Thiruchendur Temple is believed to have been built by Visvakarma, the celestial architect. Like its ancient name, the temple denotes the site of the battle and the victory of Lord Murugan over the Asuras, including notorious ones like Anamughan, Panumughan, Simhamughan, and Soorapadman.

 

 

Thiruchendur was just 9km south of Kaayalpatnam, and because of its location, the town became a centre of conflict between the two invaders in the 17th century. We are talking about the Dutch–Portuguese Conflict.

 

The Dutch East India Company with an aim to seek control and dominance in trade, particularly in the spice trade, established their factory in India in 1645. However, the Portuguese who were a force to reckon with in the 17th century, captured Kayalpatnam to forcibly depart the Dutch back to Ceylon by 1648.

 

 

During their conflict, Thirumalai Nayak, Madurai ruler, favoured the Portuguese (Parangiyar) over the Dutch (Ulaandhargal), which enragëd the Dutch. In a bid to take revenge on the Portuguese, they decided to capturë Tuticorin (Thoothukudi), a Portuguese stronghold.

 

In February 1649, a conflict broke out between the Portuguese and the Dutch over the coast of Tiruchendur.

 

 

The Dutch sought the aid of their Governor at headquarters in Ceylon. He came over to the mainland in ten boats, landed at Manappar, seized the Portuguese Church at Virarampattanam, occupied the Temple at Tiruchendur and fortified the latter with guns. They used it as a base to launch attacks on the Portuguese interests of Tuticorin. They also freely looted Gold & silver from the temple.

 

 

The local people tried during these 2 years to try and free their temple, with several futile attempts. The Dutch finally vacated the temple on orders from the Naik ruler. However, while vacating the temple, they mutilated stone idols in the temple with iron hammers and tried to destroy the structure by setting fire and bombardment.

 

As that wasn't enough, the Dutch decided to steal away the idols of Shanmukhar and Natarajar from the temple assuming they were made of gold. Their attempt at melting it proved futile, so they tried to carry them away by sea back to Ceylon.

 

 

 

 

M. Rennel, the French author of A Description, Historical and Geographical, of India (published in Berlin, 1785), gives a picture of the temple, which, he says, he got from a soldier in the service of the Dutch Company. He relates an incident which offers a reasonable explanation of the Thiruchendur tradition. "In a descent made by the Dutch off the Coast in 1648," he says, "the Dutch halted in the temple and on leaving did their best to destroy it by fire and by a heavy bombardment. But they only partially succeeded and the tower defied all their efforts." Possibly the capture of the idol was one of their achievements.

 

What happened next is based on oral traditions of the local legend. Having crossed only a few nautical miles from the shore, the ship fell prey to a storm so daunting that the sailors began to believe that it was the wrath of the local god from the temple they had looted, which must have induced the thunderstorm. Petrified out of their minds, they decide to heave the idol into the ocean.

 

 

The loss of idols was informed to Vadamalaiyappa Pillaiyyan, a local administrator of the Nayak at Tirunelveli. A great devotee, Pillaiyyan was sorely affected & ordered a similar idol to be made in Panchaloka.

 

After 4 years, Pillaiyyan had a dream that changed everything. While he was sleeping he had a dream about the location of the idol inside the sea marked by a kite flying around on the top and a lemon floating on the surface of the sea where idols are submerged.

 

 

The idols are recovered miraculously with the information that he got in the dream. The place where he stayed is called Murugankurichi- meaning the place where Lord Murugan gave information about the idols. As the old idols are recovered, The new idols are placed in Tirupirantheeswarar Temple, Palayamkottai. This incident is marked as paintings inside Tiruchendur Subramanyaswamy Temple. Even the name of divers who helped to recover the idols from the sea is mentioned in paintings.

 

One version mentions that the idols were purchased back from the Dutch for 1 lakh reals.