Palani, India

History

References to the place exist in ancient Tamil devotional texts. According to Hindu mythology, "Sage Narada once visited the celestial court of Shiva at Mount Kailash to present to Him a fruit, the jnana-palam (literally, the fruit of knowledge), that held in it the elixir of wisdom. Upon Shiva expressing his intention of dividing the fruit between his two sons, Ganesha and Murugan, the sage counselled against cutting it. He decided to award it to whoever of his two sons first circled the world thrice. Accepting the challenge, Murugan started his journey around the globe on his mount peacock. However, Ganesha, who surmised that the world was no more than his parents Shiva and Shakti combined, circumambulated them". Pleased with their son's discernment, Shiva awarded the fruit to Ganesha. When Murugan returned, he was furious to learn that his efforts had been in vain. He left Kailash and took up his abode in Palani hills in South India. It is believed that Murugan felt the need to get matured from boyhood and hence chose to remain as a hermit and discarded all his robes and ornaments. He went into meditation to know about himself.

From the History section of Palani on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.