The Siva Subramania Swamy Devasthanam in our documentation represents the temple life of Pondicherry’s Lawspet locality. Along with the Angalamman Koyil of Muthialpet, it is the only other temple that falls outside the confines of the boulevards. The first original shrine of the site was Adi Vinayaka who sits to the left of Murugan, which evolved from Siva Kumara, to Mayil Murugan – both of whom are now at the back – to finally settling on the Siva Subramania Swami. Around the prakaram are shrines to Shanmukha, Palani Andavar, Nava Veerangal, Siva Kumara, Mayil Murugan, Siva Lokanathar and his consort, Valli on the unjal, the Navagrahas, Naalvar and Durga. The temple stands out for its ritual enactments, which seem to always be done with care and deliberation. Further up the road is the Bala Mutthumariamman shrine, which is the temple’s dedicated Amman shrine and is given kaalasandhi puja every day.
The primary festival, like all other Murugan temples, is the Skanda Sashti Soora Samharam which comes immediately after Deepavali. The festival usually lasts seven days with the slaying on the 6th and the divine wedding on the 7th day. The temple has a thanga-ther, or golden chariot which is brought out for ul-purappadu during Panguni Utthiram, Vaikasi Vishakam and the monthly Krittikais. The nearby Veerabhadraswamy temple’s alagu sevai, or knife-festival begins only after performing its initial puja at the Siva Subramania Swami temple.