PALANI STHALAPURANAM
The History of Palani written by Balasubramania Kavirayar speaks about the glory of this place. This contains 23 chapters in 987 verses, and was written in 1628AD. The Temple Office has released a new and revised book in 1998.
The story of Lord Muruga, why He left Kailasa and came to Palani, and how Palani got its name.Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi are seated atop Mount Kailas. One day, Lord Narada comes and gifts them a celestial fruit. The two sons of Lord Siva, namely Ganapathy and Murugan, demand the entire fruit for each of them. Siva announces a competition and promises to give the fruit to the one who wins the test. The condition is they should go round the world and reach back first. Both agree to it and Ganapathy makes a circumambulation of His parents, reaches first, and wins the fruit. Murugan who goes on his peacock around the world reaches later and finds that Ganapathy has won the prize. He therefore gets disappointed and, renouncing the world, stands atop the Palani Hill. Siva and Parvathi come to Palani and pacifies Murugan