Vadapalani Murugan Temple

The original temple of the deity of Vadapalani Murugan shrine was a small thatched hut under which Annaswamy Naikar paid his respects and worshipped a picture of Lord Murugan with all his devotion. In around 1890, this temple was built at the spot where it still stands. He was the orchestrator, founder and the first priest of the temple. The shrine gained its popularity because of Annaswamy's 'arul vaakku' or foretelling and healing powers. It was believed by the devotees of the temple that his sacred words were solutions to their different problems in life like marriage troubles, failure in examinations, unemployment, ailments and so on.

His disciple Rathinaswamy Chettiyar took upon himself the responsibility to build this house of worship, and after Annaswamy passed away, he became the chieftain and the priest of the temple. Legend says he was also blessed with the ability to speak the words of solution while being in a trance. Later on in 1920, the temple was refurbished, and the Rajagopuram on the Inner Ring Road was also built. Over the last century, it has gained popularity mainly because of the patronage of south Indian film stars. They come here often to pay respect and pray for their new movies.

The temple's architecture follows the traditional style of south Indian temples, complete with the Rajagopuram with several stucco figures, many of them are poses of the classical dance form Bharatnatyam. There are numerous deities residing within the premises of Vadapalani Murugan Temple, like Ganesh or Vinayaka, Lord Shiva, Meenakshi Amman, Sanmuga, Kali, Bhairava, Dakshinamurti, Mahalakshmi and so on. The idol of Lor Murugan is the chief deity amongst all, and he resides in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

The one speciality of the deity is that he stands with his footwear, which is a symbolism of shedding one's arrogance. He also stands with one foot forward, and myth says it is because the Lord is rushing to help his followers. A fig tree is considered to be the holy tree of this temple, where devotees tie strings to pray for fulfilment of their wishes. They also offer sacrifices, garments as well as gold and silver as a price. There is a hall which is used for marriages. More than 7000 couples tie knot here each year, blessed by the Murugan.

Vaikasi and Brahmotsav: The Brahmotsave is celebrated in a grand manner at the temple during the Vaikasi month for 11 days. It begins on the day of Visakam Nakshatram and the Lord's awakening. The seventh day is special because theLord'ss chariot is taken out fora procession. It ends with the Vidaiyatri Urchavam.

Purattasi: This is the Tamil version of Navaratri, when Amman is worshipped for 9 days, along with the other deities of the temple. It ends with the parivettai uchavam and procession of Vijaya Dashami.

Iypasi: This is the celebration of the victory of goodness over evil. Lor Murugan defeated and killed demon Suran on the sixth day of the crescent moon during the Iypasi month of Tamil calendar. This day marks the Kanda Shashthi, and on this day the events of the victory, or as they call it, Sura Samhara will be recreated by the devotee as a part of the festivities. The seventh day marks the wedding of Murugan to Valli and Deyvaanai, his two consorts and is called Subramanyar Thiru Kalyanam. On the remaining three days, the procession of the main deity Swami Purappaaddu takes place.

Margazhi: Udal Urchavam is commenced on the tenth day of Thiruvadharai Urchavam on the Pournami of the Margazhi month.

Panguni: Panguni Uthiram lathcharchanai goes on for ten days and is over on the Panguni Uthram day. This is followed by the departure of Vadapalani Andavar in the evening. A deepam festival takes place after this for 3 days.

The temple is situated in a very strategic position connected on all sides by busy bus routes, all of which make stops here. The Chennai Railway Station is also only a 30 to 40 minutes' drive away, and so is the airport. You can either take a bus or hire a cab for your smooth journey to the temple.