A Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the protector in the Hindu Trinity, as Azhagar Perumal as in Thirumaliluncholai at Azhagarmalai near Madurai in Tamilnadu.This temple is situated in a hamlet called Vellakkal in Tamil or Makulgaharuppa in Sinhala on the Kandy-Jaffna (A9) highway about 5 km. from the histroric city of Matale in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.At present this is the only kn
own Azhagar kovil in Sri Lanka. Origin: The exact date of beginning of worship at this shrine is not known.But from the recollections of the elders of the area one could assume that it could have begun around mid nineteenth century. Tamil Hindus, wherever they settle down, are in the habit of establishing places worship of their Kuladeivam (clan deity). Some of the Tamil migrants who came from Madurai and Ramnad districts of Tamilnadu to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), in search of employment in the central hill country plantations, settled down in and around Matale. For most of those who chose to settle down in a village called Vellakkal or Kirigalpotha in Sinhala, Pathinettampadi Karuppanna Swamy was their Kuladeivam.During this period a farmer named Kongiah Servai from Madurai settled down with his family at Vellakkal. So, with the help of others in the area he established a shrine for Karuppanna swamy by planting a stone under a tree, called Makulgaha in Sinhala, and worshiping it.Hence the name Makulgaharuppa (makul tree+karuppu) for the village in Sinhala.
