Swamithope Pathi

Swamithope Pathi, also called Thamarai-pathi or Thoppuppathi, is the chief pathi of the Ayyavazhi faith and the first of its Pancha pathis. Ayyavazhi tradition holds that Lord Vaikundar, an incarnation of Narayana, carried out his tavam, a six-year penance, here, drawing followers from across India, and that after his death his body was laid to rest in the Palliyarai, around which the square pathi was built.

The Palliyarai holds two oil lamps, an elunetru, a large mirror and, on a pedestal draped in kavi cloth, a rattan cane and wooden sandals believed to have been Vaikundar's. A carving of Vishnu's ten avatars decorates its door, and inner corridors surround it. Outside stand a 55 ft flag mast, a kitchen that feeds devotees, a bell tower over the spot of the tavam, and a Sivalinga and Amman shrine; about 300 m away is a well where, according to the Akilam, people of all eighteen castes bathed.