Speciality
It is believed that Sonnaiyan is a muslim god, who came to this place and got magical powers and transformed into a Guardian God. Being a Muslim god non veg and traditional cigarette (Surutu) is offered to the God. A fragrance camphor (Sambarani) is the favorite item of Sonnaiyan, so all devotees offer him Sambarani.
It is a custom that, no ladies are allowed inside the shrine, women can get the look of God from the outer pavilion. The Lord graces in the open shrine, with a weapon (Arival) in one hand and whip (satai ) in other, his form depicts that he is the guardian of the area and will slay the evil. Before him tridents are anchored. Adjacent to his shrine is the mud statue of huge white horse and a man underneath.
As we go inside the temple we can see the shrines of Thottichi Amman, Muniyandi, Achi Amman, Karuppaswami and Sapta Kannigal (Seven virgin), and Ayyanar along with his consorts.
Lore
There is a legend for Thottichi Amman, who is present in the Sonnayan temple. The legend has it that many eons ago, it is a custom that pregnant ladies should deliver their child only in their mother’s house, so Thottichi was traveling from her town to her mother’s village, on the way there was heavy down pour. So the cart driver asked her to stay in the Sonnaiyan shed. After the rain when the driver went inside, he was bewildered to see Thottichi delivered the baby and turned to a stone. Later the villagers erected a shrine for her and started to pray.
Ceremonies
New moon day is very famous in this temple. Siva Rathiri is also celebrated in a grand way. Devotees throng at the temple in a large mass and stay there all the night. Devotees offer the god a sweet cake made out of flour and jaggery ( Mavilaku), it is very famous in this temple, all ladies light lamp in these sweet pudding and show it before the God, after this the sweet pudding is distributed to all. Other than that, people having Sonnaiyan as the family deity offer him flowers and fruits before starting any good deed. Even some people keep a coin tied in a cloth before the Sonnaiyan picture in their house, if they lost a thing and want it back, to our surprise, they will find it soon.
Travel
Sonnaiyan temple is located near Nerkuppai village. Bus facilities are very rare to this temple. From Ponnamaravathi, you can hire a taxi to this temple.
Train:
Madurai railway station is the nearest railway station to this temple
Airport:
Madurai airport is the nearest one to this temple.