| Ettampadai | |
|---|---|
எட்டாம்படை திருவல்லிக்கேணி திருமுருகன் | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Chennai |
| Deity | Ettampadai Thiruvallikkeni Thirumurugan (Murugan) |
| Location | |
| Location | Thiruvallikkeni |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
 | |
| Geographic coordinates | 13°03′05″N80°16′30″E / 13.051514°N 80.275124°E /13.051514; 80.275124 |
| Architecture | |
| Date established | 1845 |
TheEttampadai (Tamil:எட்டாம்படை) is a temple ofLord Murugan (Subrahmanya) inIndia, located in the neighbourhood ofTriplicane (Thiruvallikkeni) inChennai.
The idol of Lord Muruga of this temple is placed in the Kandhaswamy temple and Thiruporoor Murugan Temple. In the early days pilgrims carrying theKavadi.
The land for the temple construction was donated by a woman named Pachayammal. To restructure this temple, Thiruvallikkeni Thirumuruganadiyargal, the local devotees of Lord Muruga, started a devotional musical organization called "Bhajaneshwara" in 1978. From the remuneration they received, the initial structure of this temple was restructured.
The Ettampadai temple is the eighthPadaiveedu of Lord Muruga. In the first innerprakāram are the shrines of deities, namely,Pillayar, Kumbeshwara, Ambigai, and Sri Kanaga Durga. The Navagraha Sannidhi is beside the Ancient Pillar of Lord Muruga.
Besides regular services, days sacred to the Lord Muruga are celebrated in a grand way every year and are attended by thousands of devotees from all over South India. Some of these festivals are theThai-Poosam, theVaikhashi-Vishakham and theSoora-Samharam.
Panguni Utthiram festival is the most famous festival at temple. The six-day celebration includes homams, devotional music, nadhaswara concert, kavadiattam, special abhishekam and annadhanam on the festival.
Pilgrims after first having taken a strict vow of abstinence, come barefoot, by walk, from distant towns and villages. Many pilgrims also bring a litter of wood, called aKāvadi, borne on their shoulders, in commemoration of the act of the demonHidumba who is credited by legend with bringing the two hills ofPalani to their present location, slung upon his shoulders in a similar fashion. Others bring pots of sanctified water, known astheertha-kāvadi, for the priests to conduct theabhishekam on the holy day.
Darshan hours are from 6:00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. On festival days the temple opens at 4.30 a.m. and remains open till 10.30 p.m.
