temples in Tamil Nadu built to honor
Murugan, a hill deitywho has been
assimilated into the larger pantheon as a
form of the god Skanda, the sonof
Shiva. Five of these temples have been
definitively identified, and each is asso-
ciated with a particular region, a specific
ecosystem, and a particular incident in
Murugan’s mythic career. In the case of
Tiruchendur, it is said to be where he
killed a demonenemy and thus presents
him in his warrior aspect. The sixth of
these temples is said to be every other
shrine to Murugan in Tamil Nadu. The
cult of Murugan is thus a symbolic vehi-
cle for Tamil pride and identity, and
because the number six has connota-
tions of completeness—as in the six
directions or the six chakrasin the sub-
tle body—it also connotes that nothing
outside is needed. For further informa-
tion see Fred Clothey, “Pilgrimage
Centers in the Tamil Cultus of
Murukan,” in Journal of the American
Academy of Religion,Vol. 40, No. 1, 1972.
Tiruchirappalli
City on the CauveryRiver in the central
part of the state of Tamil Nadu, and the
capital of the district with the same
name. The city’s strategic position
meant that it was contested by various
southern Indian dynasties, of which the
most recent were the Nayaks of
Madurai, who built an imposing fort
on a stone outcrop in the center of the
city. It is most famous, however, for
the great temples of Shrirangamand
Jambukeshvar, both of which are on an
island in the Cauvery, north of the city.
The former is a temple to the god
Vishnu, which has important symbolic
associations with southern Indian kings
and kingship; the latter is dedicated to
the god Shivain his aspect as “Lord of
the Rose-Apple (jambu) Tree.”
Tirukkural
One of the most important pieces of
early Tamil literature, along with the
slightly later Naladiyar. The Tirukkural
is a collection of brief verses on reli-
gious, social, and moral life, organized
according to various themes; it is attrib-
uted to the poet Tiruvalluvar and is
believed to have been written late in the
fifth century. The Tirukkural’s underly-
ing assumptions are theistic, and in this
it differs from the Naladiyar, the tone of
which is primarily ethical, with no men-
tion of divinity. Many of these epigrams
have become proverbial expressions in
Tamil and have become the cultural
property of Tamils from all religious
communities. See also Tamil language
and Tamil epics.Tirumalai Nayak
(r. 1623–1659) Greatest ruler in the
southern Indian Nayak dynasty, who
took advantage of the collapse of the
Vijayanagar dynastyto rule much of
modern Tamil Nadu from the capital
city of Madurai. The peace and prosper-
ity during Tirumalai’s reign was
expressed with two large pieces of mon-
umental architecture—his royal palace,Tirumalai NayakDepiction of Tirumalai Nayak.