How to reach Swamythope

• Swamythope, the village that houses the thalamai pathi (head temple) of Ayya Vaikuntar is about 15 kms away from Nagercoil, the district head quarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu. Swamythope is located about 5 kms south off the Nagercoil - Kanyakumari road. This being a village does not have any lodging facility, though traditional vegetarian South Indian food is available in small restaurants located near the temple.
  
  
• The town nearby to stay is Nagercoil or Kanyakumari, though it would be better to stay in Nagercoil due to reasonable costs and varieties of facilities available there. From Nagercoil, town buses are available (route numbers 34, 2, 1-D); alternatively, visitors can use auto or taxi as well. For people coming from Trivandrum, Madurai, Coimbatore or Chennai, convenient trains and buses are available to reach Nagercoil. If one arrives at the Nagercoil railway station, taxis are available at the station to travel to Swamithope. If someone is already staying in Kanyakumari, it is best travel to Swamithope by taxi (about 10 kms).
  
  
• There is a specific dress code that men have to follow. It is forbidden for gents to wear any shirt or baniyan (above the waist) when they enter the temple and they are expected to wear a thalaippagai (a towel on the head) while entering the temple. Though the preferred dress for men is white dhoti, if this is not available, a pair of troushers is acceptable. One should not go to the temple if he or she has taken any non-vegetarian food on that day.
  
  
• On all days the temple is open for dharshan. The preferred procedure is to have a holy bath in the Muthiri kinaru (holy well) located near the temple, then have a dharshan. This is a must if one wants to come around the Palli arai (the moolasthanam) of the temple. After having the holy bath, devotees chant the Maha manthra "Ayya Siva Siva Siva Siva Arahara Arahara" and worship first in the Vadakku Vasal (where Ayya did the tapasya for six years). Then people have the dharshan of the kodimaram, then come around the prakaram five times chanting the mahamanthra and then enter into the temple. If one wants to go and have a close dharshan of Ayya in front of the sanctum sanctorium, they should take permission from the guru who is giving namam to the devotees.
  
  
• The palli arai (the moolasthanam) will be closed for short durations when preparations are being made for special prayer sessions like Uga padippu or Uchchi padippu, depending on the time of the day. Otherwise the temple is open for dharshan from 6 AM to 8 PM.
  
  
• The temple is usually crowded during the three major festivals every year and the Tamil month Masi 20, the famous festival for Ayya's birthday (Ayya Pirantha naal kondattam). There is a reasonable number of devotees attending prayers every Sunday for Uchchi padippu (noon session), but the crowd is much bigger on the first Sunday of every Tamil month. However, there is prayer in the temple at least thrice a day, everyday.
  If someone wants to take something to the temple while going for prayer, they can offer fresh fruits, fresh flowers (flowers of the day), coconuts or tender coconuts.
  
  
• While in the temple, devotees are either expected to observe silence or chant the Maha manthra "Ayya Siva Siva Siva Siva Arahara Arahara" and not to indulge in any conversations.
  

Bibiliography

Special thanks go to the following who inspired to produce the web site:

• First to Lord Ayya Vaikuntar for His personal grace to me
• Swami Balaprajapathi Adikalar (Anbuvanam, Swamithoppu) who assisted and offered support
• Sri N.Elango and Srimathi Vijaya Shanthi Elango for their wonderful book without which this web site might not be possible
• Sri Jeremy S. Provan (USA), my dear most friend who also proof read the contents
• Sri K.Kuruswamy, Therivillai
• Sri K.Kamaraj, Therivillai
• Sri Manickavasakan from Dubai for providing immense helps to make this web site

Ayya Vaikuntar, The light of the world - by N.Elango and Vijaya Shanthi Elango. This is a wonderful book and provided most of the information presentaed in this web site.

Arul-Nool

Akilathirattu

Contacting The Web Master

By the grace of Ayya Vaikuntar, I could create and maintain this web site. If there are any errors found in the content or presentation, I beg the devotees and Ayya Vaikuntar to forgive me.

To send any comments or suggestions please e-mail to me: Bagavathikan M. Raj

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