Suchindram Trimoorthy linga and Hanuman temple | Heritage blog

This holy town is located a few kilometres from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. The Suchindram temple has a Thrimoorthy linga idol – with Lord Brahma at the base, Lord Vishnu in the middle and Lord Shiva at the top. The temple is also famous for the 22-feet Hanuman statue.

The history of the linga dates back several thousand years. Atri Maharishi’s wife, Anasuya, was an immaculate woman who attained great powers due to her devotion to her husband. She could perform several miracles with the water she used to wash her husband’s feet. She was the mother of the great Sages Dattreya and Durvasa.

One day, Goddess Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati heard about Anasuya from Sage Narada and were eager to test her devotion. They asked their husbands’ - Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma to visit her ashram and ask for alms but with the condition that they will only take food from someone who is not clothed. Anasuya, with her shakti, turned them into infants, satisfied their hunger and at the same time fulfilled their condition. As their husbands didn’t return, the Goddesses were worried and then came to know what happened. They acknowledged the purity of Anasuya’s devotion and pleaded Anasuya to return their husbands. Anasuya obliged and transformed the infants back to their original self in this very location - Suchindram. A deity was hence made of all 3 the Gods, one above the other, in a single linga.

A few hundred years ago, a 22-feet Hanuman statue made of a single granite rock was placed in the same temple. In the 16th century, due to fear of invasion by Tipu Sultan, the statue was hidden underground. In 1930, the statue was retrieved and placed back in the temple. The temple is also famous for its four giant musical pillars each 18ft tall that produce various musical sounds when struck.