Pazhamudircholai

Pazhamudircholai is the smallest and greenest of the six, set in dense grove on the Azhagar hills north of Madurai. The name means the grove of ripened fruit.

It is the setting of the exchange with Avvaiyar. Murugan, disguised as a cowherd boy in a naaval tree, asked the poet whether she wanted roasted fruit or unroasted. Puzzled, she said roasted — and he shook the tree so the fruit fell in the sand, which she then had to blow clean. The lesson, and her recognition of who he was, is one of the best-loved stories in Tamil devotion.

The temple is noticeably less crowded than Palani or Thiruchendur, and is usually visited together with Thiruparankundram since both are near Madurai.