Abhisheka Kandan

There is a Murugan temple in Sri Lanka, which is connected with a Tamil princess, said Desa Mangayarkkarasi in a discourse. Due to a curse, this princess had a digestive disorder, and the face of a horse. She visited Tiruchendur hoping for a cure. In Tiruchendur, Murugan faces the sea. The place which He faces is called Vadana Aramba Thurai. The princess bathed here, and a voice was heard. The voice instructed her to go to Keerimalai in Sri Lanka. The voice said there was a swayambhu Murugan in Keerimalai, and asked her to worship this Murugan for a relief from her curse. Since the means of acquiring a human face was suggested here, this place in Tiruchendur is called Vadana Aramba Thurai. Vadana means face; aramba means beginning. Thurai means bathing ghat.

The princess went to Keerimalai, where the sage Nakula, also known as Keeri muni, was doing penance. He had been cursed with the face of a mongoose, and this curse had vanished when he had worshipped Lord Siva in this place. Siva is called Nakuleshwarar here. Sage Nakula guided the princess to the swayambhu Murugan of the sthala, and asked her to do an abhisheka to the idol. When she did so, her horse face vanished and in its place was the face of a very beautiful young woman. She was also cured of her digestive problem. To show his gratitude, her father took granite boulders from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka, and built a stone structural temple for Murugan. This place in Lanka is called Mavittapuram, and Murugan here is known as Maavai Kandan. He is also called Abhisheka Kandan. Although abhishekas for deities are common in all temples, whether they are temples of Vishnu or Siva or Goddess Sakti, or Vinayaka, this place in Lanka is unique because the deity here has the prefix abhisheka before His name.