A jnani is discovered

Kanda Kottam is a temple for Lord Murugan in a busy commercial area of Chennai. Thirupporur, near Chennai, has a Murugan temple. Devotees from Chennai used to visit Thirupporur often. One such devotee was Mari Chettiar. One night he had a dream, in which Murugan told him about a vigraha of His. Following the instructions given in the dream, Mari Chettiar found the idol, and built the Kanda Kottam temple. Another version says that it was a Sivachariyar who found the idol. Lord Murugan is known as Muthukumaraswamy and Kandaswamy in Kanda Kottam. The temple has idols of devotees like Pamban Swamigal, Chidambara Swamigal, Dandapani Swamigal and Kripananda Variar Swamigal. The pond in the temple is known as Saravana Poigai, and it never runs dry, said Desa Mangaiyarkkarasi in a discourse.

Saint Valallar worshipped in Kanda Kottam very often. When his brother Sabhapathi Pillai asked him to leave the house, Vallalar, who was only seven years old, came to Kanda Kottam. Kanchipuram Ashtavadana Sabhapathi Mudaliar, who was Sabhapathi Pillai’s guru, found Vallalar sitting near the temple pond. Vallalar’s answers to the guru’s questions showed that Vallalar was a jnani. “Where do your words come from?” asked the guru. Vallalar said his words came from Lord Murugan. So, Kanda Kottam has the distinction of revealing to the world the jnani that Vallalar was. One day Vallalar heard children reciting simple lines, which urge us not to abstain from learning, not to neglect our mothers and so on. Vallalar wondered why children should study a set of instructions that told them what not to do. So, he composed prayers to Murugan, which had a positive note in them. He prayed, “Let me always praise You. Let me keep away from dishonest people. Let me have wisdom and good health.”