Vettuvan Koil
| Vettuvan Koil | |
|---|---|
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 Location in Tamil Nadu
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 9°09′12″N 77°42′12″E / 9.15333°N 77.70333°ECoordinates: 9°09′12″N 77°42′12″E / 9.15333°N 77.70333°E |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Thoothukudi |
| Location | Kalugumalai |
| Culture | |
| Sanctum | Vettuvan Koil(Shiva) |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Dravidian architecture, Rock cut |
| History and governance | |
| Website | kalugumalaitemple |
Vettuvan Koil in Kalugumalai, a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed in the Pandyan Architecture and rock cut architecture, the unfinished temple is believed to have been built during the 8th century by Pandyas. The rock-cut architecture exemplary of early Pandyan Art. The other portions of Kalugumalai houses the 8th century Kalugumalai Jain Beds and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple, a Murugan temple.Vettuvan Koil is the only one of the monolithic Pandya Temple that still survive
As per local legend, a rivalry between a father and son resulted in son finishing the sculpture first at the lower hills, while the father was slow to respond. In his angst, the father killed the son and thus the shrine remains unfinished.
The temple is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the Government of Tamil Nadu as a protected monument.
As per local legend, there was a rivalry between a father and son sculptors on who would attain the best specimen. The son started to work on the lower rock for the Murugan shrine, while the father started working uphill. The son claimed that the father would never finish the shrine, which infuriated the father to kill the son. It is believed that the son was able to finish the Murugan temple at the foothills, but the father's work on this temple was incomplete. Another variant of the legend states that the father wanted his son to take time to learn the tricks to start his work. Foregoing the orders of the father, the son started chiselling in the inner chamber. Hearing the sound and raged by the disobedience, the father killed the son. There two literal Tamil meanings to Vettuvan Koil, one of which means "Heaven of sculptors", while the other means the temple of slayer.
The temple is believed to have been built during 8th century around 800 AD. The hill was under the control of Ettaiyapuram Zamindar until 1954. The Raja gifted the village to the Kalugasalamoorthy Temple and formed five streets around the temple to enable the temple car to pass easily. He also allocated a middle street for the temple priests. During the Panguni Uthiram festival procession, the elongated conflict between two castes in the region, namely, Nadars and Maravars resulted in a riots, popularly called Kalugumalai riots of 1895. A total of ten people were killed, many injured and the temple car and other property in the region were destroyed. The sculptures in Vettuvan Koil and the Kalugumalai Jain Beds were not affected during the riots.
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