Thanumalayan Temple Suchindram - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva

Suchindram is a very famous pilgrim centre, located between Nagercoil and Kanyakumari. It is one of the few temples in the country where the Trinity, ‘Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva’, are worshipped in one place. All the three lords are considered supreme and equal here in the name of ‘Thanumalayan’. Once, a sage named ‘Atri’ lived here with his wife Anasuya, who was considered a very chaste woman. She was very famous around the region for her chastity that she could do any magic with the water. Her legacy went on up to the paradise leading Lord Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu visited her once during the absence of her husband, wishing to test her chastity. They arrived as saints asking alms and begged Anasuya to feed them. Before getting it, they told her that they had taken a vow in which they could not accept alms from a person wearing clothes.

With her power through meditation, she sprinkled holy water on those three, transforming them into babies. She then disrobed and fed them. The consorts of the lords came there to restore their husbands back. Then the three babies were restored to their normal forms. Divine personalities departed leaving their deities behind under an Amaltas tree. That tree is still present here dating back some 2500 years old. Within the hollow trunk are the three deities of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva. The temple construction came across many centuries and the present structure belongs to the 17th century. It was previously managed by Namboodiris of Kerala. Another significance of this temple is that the statue of Lord Hanuman stands majestically at a height of 22 feet, which is carved of a single granite rock. The statue has a history that it was buried in 1740 fearing the attack by the Tipu Sultan. It was then rediscovered in 1930 and restored.