Comment... Tsunami and Temple at Tiruchendur

**Aneesh.M** · 13th January 2005

I do not know if this true. If true I am looking for scientific explanations....................

"Temple of lord Murugan at Tiruchendur which is very close to the sea shore. Tiruchendur Lord Murugan Temple is on the sea shore - within 100 metres of the waves. The Temple is a cave with the entrance at the sea level and the cave inside is sliding down to the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Lord Subramaniam ( Murugan ) . When we stand in front of the deity, the sea
water level outside is higher than our heads. There is every likely hood that tidal waves and tsunamis can rush in and fill the cave Temple with sea water. In the history of the Temple, it is mentioned that the Water God (Lord Varuna) has promised Lord Murugan that he will not cross the boundary of the Temple.
It seems the Water God has kept his promise. While the tsunami on 26/12/04 has lashed the eastern coast of India and inundated all places near the coast deeply, the sea water did not enter the Temple. At 10.00 Hrs on the fated day ( 26/12/04), the sea near the temple receded by a Kilometre - people could see there a big crater with rocks visible - gradually the sea came back to its original level. But sea water has entered Jeeva Nagar located opposite Tiruchendur Bus stand at 12.30 Hrs.
All other coastal areas near Tiruchendur were affected by the lashing of tsunami. The Temple area is unaffected as the sea receded there as though to keep the promise given."

**rocksea** · 13th January 2005

One of the reasons I see is that Sri Lanka lies in between
the epicenter of the quake and Tuticorin, where the above
mentioned temple is. Tuticorin wasn't affected as much
as compared to the other areas as Sri Lanka absorbed the
waves on the way.

The geographical location and geography of the place
must have been ideal that such a destruction was prevented
even though some nearby places had sea water rushing in.

but.... If the sea had receeded one km, it was a prelude to
the tsunami striking at that location. There must have been a
huge tidal wave striking immediately after. The claim should
be checked for authenticity.

**anand** · 14th January 2005

Hi,

Its very interesting to read that one.. still i am very much confused that even though sea flushed out to one km distace the temple was safe....
i cant belive this.....
if somthing like this is happend, why no news on that still in paper?
the reason for the lesser Tsunami effect is clear from roxy's reply..
still if you can have a look on the map of the local area, then it will be good. ii will be going to all these places in two week time.. so i will try to get the correct details then..

**aboobacker** · 14th January 2005

From: Tapaswi MP, NIO
Subject: Tsunami stories: Don't believe!

Message: On the NIO's website (feedback form), one of the persons had asked for a scientific explanation to a story that is being spread over mail much faster than speed of tsunami! Dr Shankar, Scientist from POD was prompt in providing scientific explanation to it. The story has also reached to the shores of NIO's mail addresses. Hence this has been reproduced for your information. You may like to reproduce Dr Shankar's explanation to your colleagues and don't get washed away with such stories. Please help in building scientific temper:

The Story:
Tiruchendur Lord Murugan Temple is on the sea shore - within 100 metres of the waves. The Temple is a cave with the entrance at the sea level and the cave inside is sliding down to the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Lord Subramaniam ( Murugan ) . When we stand in front of the deity, the sea water level outside is higher than our heads. There is every likely hood that tidal waves and tsunamis can rush in and fill the cave Temple with sea water. In the history of the Temple, it is mentioned that the Water God ( Lord Varuna ) has promised Lord Murugan that he will not cross the boundary of the Temple.

It seems the Water God has kept his promise. While the tsunami on 26/12/04 has lashed the eastern coast of India
and inundated all places near the coast deeply, the sea water did not enter the Temple. At 10.00 Hrs on the fated day ( 26/12/04), the sea near the temple receded by a Kilometre - people could see there a big crater with rocks visible - gradually the sea came back to its original level. But sea water has entered Jeeva Nager located opposite Tiruchendur Bus stand at 12.30 Hrs.

All other coastal areas near Tiruchendur were affected by the lashing of tsunami. The Temple area is unaffected as the sea receded there as though to keep the promise given.

The Explanation (in the form of mail reply that Dr Shankar gave):

Dear Mr Muralikrishnan,

I'm sending this mail after discussions with my colleagues.

We've discussed the events in Tiruchendur as described in your mail andhave come to the conclusion that what happened there is not surprising, and is but an extension of what happens there every day. The explanation follows, but I must confess that it would have been near-impossible for us to arrive at this conclusion without a visit to Tiruchendur, had it not been for the presence in NIO of a scientist from there. The following description follows our process of reasoning, and I am writing it thus to enable you (or someone else) to correct us if our assumptions are wrong.

The first thing we did was to confirm that the timings in your mail are right. This was done by comparing them with the tide-gauge record at Tuticorin (see http://www.nio.org). The tsunami's first blow was at 1000 hrs and coincided with low tide. Immediately after the water rose above the tide, there was a regress. The next peak, almost as high as the first because the tide was coming in by then, was around 1230 hrs. These are the two timings we have from your mail. In the first report, water regressed "by a km" near the temple; in the second, it entered Jeeva Nagar, which is located near the bus stand.

The second thing we did was to discuss (with our Tiruchendur colleague) the local topography and the normal behaviour at these two locations during high and low tide. He confirms that the high tide never affects the temple, but the bus stand is often flooded. He and his friends, who used to go to the bus stand area to play cricket, would have to return because of the water-logging. Since he says "often", not "always", we assume that the cricket was affected only during the spring high tide, which occurs on full and new moon days. (A bus stand would not be functional if it flooded every day by the high tide, but flooding once a fortnight might be tolerated.)

The third thing we checked (with our Tiruchendur colleague) is if a promontory exists in the area. (A promontory is a cape-like structure jutting out of the coast.) After some thought, he confirmed that there is such a feature in the local coast, and that the bus stand is located on the south of the promontory and the temple is on the north.

We now have with us all that we need to explain what has been observed. First, unless the tsunami was very big at Tiruchendur, and the tide-gauge record at nearby Tuticorin confirms it was not (thanks to Sri Lanka, which saved the Gulf-of-Mannar coast of TN by taking the direct hit), it was unlikely to affect the temple because the tide also does not affect it. The tsunami affected the bus stand and Jeeva Nagar, but this is a normal phenomenon there. Second, like the tide, the tsunami came into the Gulf of Mannar from the south. The local topography of the continental shelf (the shallow part of the seas as one goes away from the coast) and the local beach (or coastal) geography has a major effect on the way a tsunami affects the coast. The promontory acts (our feeling, but note that this is based on deductions without any "hard" surveys and high-resolution numerical simulations) as a barrier and this saved the temple on the north of the promontory. The bus stand on the south face of the promontory, however, was in the line of fire and took a heavier (am I right?) blow than it does during the spring high tide. There may be more to the topography, than we can judge sitting here, that saved the temple.

I will be surprised (judging by the Tuticorin record), however, if the bus stand was dry after 1000 hrs. The second peak may have brought in more seawater, but it also should have seen some ingress during the first peak at 1000 hrs, following which there would have been a regress, maybe drying the bus stand in the process.

We now come to something not as mundane. It is likely that Lord Varuna, when he made the promise to Lord Murugan, added a fine print: "This protection is valid only if you stay put in this place". Had Lord Murugan decided to move to Jeeva Nagar, the promise very likely would have been rendered invalid by divine law.

We note that temples, especially the older ones, were sited more carefully: the locations were carefully chosen. Bus stands, in contrast, are built wherever there is some land available, and are often located badly. (Tiruchendur is not alone in this tragedy; the Majestic bus stand in Bangalore was built on land reclaimed from a lake, and the results can be seen.)

With best regards,
Shankar.

**sharief77** · 14th January 2005

I think water level along the coast recedes in between tsunami waves.
it is reported that the waterline receded 40 feet near to Kayamkulam Pozhi. before the giant wave hit again.

**rocksea** · 15th January 2005

yes that is the physics in it. if the water level recedes, it is
an alarm and usually in few minutes the killer wave will rush in.
also, the first wave need not be the largest. so after the wave
rushes in and then the sea recedes, the beach will be empty
and people may walk in, unaware that the wave could come
again.

**OceanBuddy** · 21st January 2005

The so-called "scientific" explanation listed above is full of conjectures as admitted by the author. Such explanations have little value without referring to charts and actual figures. The whole write-up is analogous to talking about the earth-centric model of the Universe which was based mostly on conjecture and a few observed facts.

Also, if you look at the map of the whole region, Sri Lanka does not lie between the epicenter and the location of the temple.

**arjunsmenon** · 24th January 2005

hi all
can anybody got a map of this particular region. im not clear about the geomorphology, and i think a map will help others also to get the things clear.

**niranj** · 24th January 2005

Google - Images - Search for tuticorin (or tuticorin map)
you will get maps with tiruchendur.

and Lanka does lie between both though not in a straight
line through the center of both, but in a circle of the wave.
it is enough to dampen the effects.