New South Wales (NSW) Sydney Murugan Temple, Australia

Address

New South Wales (NSW) Sydney Murugan Temple, Great Western Hwy, Mays Hill NSW, New South Wales (NSW), Sydney Australia- 2145

Diety

Murugan

Introduction

Lord Murugan in the state of NSW resides at Mays Hill, a local eminence in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales. The Lord is popularly known as ‘Sydney Murugan’. Murugan is the lord of the hill region and his abode is usually located on hills. ‘Sydney Murugan’ also resides in the hill region called Mays Hill, which presently called by the Tamils as vaikacik kunru.

Puranic Significance

Murugan worship in Sydney was originally initiated by Mr. Śivajoti Danikai Skandakumar, a Sri Lankan Tamil who brought a statue of Murukan made of five metals, viz. gold, iron, copper, lead and silver, from Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1983. Inviting a number of devotees, he commenced worshipping the Lord at his residence in Sydney and later on Fridays in 1986 this Murugan statue was brought by him and his family to the senior common room of the Stratified Girls’ High School for worship, which is still a centre place for the Tamil community. Murugan is venerated throughout the Tamil year. There is a six day period of fast and prayer in the Tamil month of Aippasi known as the Skanda Shasti. He is worshipped at Thaipusam, celebrated by Tamil communities worldwide near the full moon of the Tamil month Thai. This commemorates the day he was given a lance by his mother in order to vanquish the demons. The full moon of the Tamil month of Vaikasi signifies his birth. Each Tuesday of the Tamil month of Adi is also dedicated to the worship of Murugan.

Special Features

The intricate designs of the idols, the refreshing aroma of sandalwood and the reverent chanting of priests to the many deities, makes the Sydney Murugan Temple in Mays Hill, one of the most treasured temples in Australia. The main deity that the temple was created for is Lord Muruga, as there are a large proportion of Tamil speaking individuals in Sydney and Lord Muruga is seen as the creator of the Tamil language.