01Roasted fruit or unroasted
Avvaiyar, old and tired, sat down under a naval tree on this hill. A cowherd boy in the branches asked whether she wanted roasted fruit or unroasted. She laughed at the question and said unroasted. He shook the tree, the fruit fell into the dust, and she blew on each one to clean it. Why blow, said the boy, is it hot? Avvaiyar saw that a child had outwitted the greatest poet of the Tamils, and knew him for Murugan. The name of the place comes from the fruit: pazham, fruit; udir, to shed; cholai, grove.
02The vel in the forest
Nakkeerar’s Tirumurugarruppadai closes its tour of Murugan’s abodes with the hill forests, and the Cilappatikaram of Ilango Adigal sings of the shrine on the hill of Solaimalai. For long only the vel was worshipped here. Later shrines were raised to Ganesha and to Murugan with his consorts Valli and Deivanai. The temple stands about 4 km up the hill from Alagar Kovil, the great Vishnu temple at its foot, and above it, a short climb on, is the spring Nupura Gangai. Monkeys own the road.
Pazhamudircholai is about 25 km north-east of Madurai. Take darshan of Kallazhagar at Alagar Kovil below, then go up by road; walk on to Nupura Gangai if you can.
