Mariamman Temple, Irukkankudi

Mariamman Temple stands in Irukkankudi, Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu, with Mariamman as its Moolavar. Legend says that three hundred years ago a priest, on land between the Arjuna and Viparu rivers, collected a basket of cow dung that no one could help him lift. Under the influence of Amman he declared that she lay in the ground beneath it, and the villagers dug, found the idol and built the temple.

The sanctum sits under a vimana, with the Artha Mandapa and Maha Mandapa close by, and Nandeeswara and the flag post in line. Vinayaka is under the Arasa Maram tree, and separate shrines honour Pechi Amman and Muppidari Amman in the north-west, with Kathavarayan and Vairavamurthi to the east and Karuppusami in the south-east. Devotees worship these deities and Mariamman in order.