As Saint Sundarar wandered through the streets of Avinashi, his keen ears caught the echoes of joyous celebrations emanating from one house, where the sacred thread ceremony, Upanayanam, was being held. Yet, just across the way, he couldn’t help but notice the somber countenances of a grieving couple. Intrigued by this stark contrast, he soon learned that the boys from these two households were the closest of friends.
Their lives took a tragic turn near the temple’s tranquil tank, where they were playing one fateful day. A crocodile lurking beneath the water’s surface seized one of the boys, snuffing out his young life. If fate had been kind, both friends would have celebrated their Upanayanam together. The grief of the grieving parents cast a pall over the entire neighborhood.
Saint Sundarar, moved by compassion and a deep sense of justice, made his way to the temple. With unwavering faith, he implored the Lord to command the crocodile to return the boy it had devoured three years earlier when he was just four years old. Sundarar’s fervent prayers, expressed through ten verses known as a Pathigam, resonated through the sacred space.
It was during the recitation of the fourth stanza that a miracle unfolded before the astonished eyes of all present. The crocodile, as if guided by divine command, brought back the boy. Remarkably, he appeared as he would have at the age of seven. Overwhelmed by the divine intervention, Sundarar reunited the boy with his jubilant parents and ensured that his Upanayanam was conducted without delay.
This extraordinary event forever etched itself into the annals of the temple’s history. Each year, during the Panguni Uthiram festival in March-April, the Mudalai Vai Pillai – the boy who once lay in the grip of the crocodile – is celebrated for three days. It stands as a testament to the power of faith, the compassion of saints, and the miraculous workings of the divine
