ABOUT

The Velliangiri Mountains, a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, are situated at the Western Ghats border of Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu. Known as the "Thenkailayam - Kailash of the South", these mountains are held and revered on par with spiritually most powerful place on the planet - Mount Kailash, the legendary abode of Lord Shiva. On the top of the Velliangiri Mountains, Shiva is worshipped as Swayambhu, one who is self-created and in this form, he graces the devotees. These mountains became sacred because of a long time ago devotee of him. There was a young maiden at the southernmost point of the Indian peninsular who aspired to hold Shiva's hand as a wife.Her devotion and austerities crossed all levels of sanity and she remained absolutely focused upon him every moment.This stirred Shiva's compassion and love. So he started making his journey to South India. Once he reached, villagers who didn't like their marriage said it was a bad day that day and asked Shiva to go back to Kailash and come back the next day before the sun rises. Shiva did that and before he could come back the next day, he could not meet the deadline due to a false setup which was created by the villagers. They put lots of camphor and burnt them making it look like the sun had rose. He was close but since he felt the time crossed he sat there itself. She was angry and left her body standing. Even today she stands there as Kanyakumari. There is a shrine on the very tip of this landmass which is known as Kanyakumari or the 'Maiden's Shrine.'