A Visit to a South Indian Temple in London

     
     

   

The Murugan Temple (Front View)

The Murugan Statue in the Main Sanctum

                                        A Visit to a South Indian Temple in London

The Highgate Hill Murugan Temple is one of the famous temples in north of London near Kings Cross Station. Once at this same spot there was a Jewish Synagogue founded in 1930 but later was shifted to a disused church in the neighborhood, which was gutted by fire in 1976. Then the Jewish Congregation moved to the Highgate village in 1979. The Britannia Hindu (Shiva) Temple Trust bought this land and established this temple in1973 and created Hindu Temple Trust, an organization which took keen interest in preserving the Hindu tradition and culture, and also in catering to the religious and spiritual needs of non-resident Indians. Sri Sabhapathi Pillai, a Srilankan Tamilian, made commendable efforts in maintaining and organizing this temple to function as per Tamil Saiva Siddhantha principles and norms. Along with Sanskrit hymns, Tamil hymns are also chanted during worship and other ceremonial rituals. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II along with Prince Philip visited this temple in June, 2002 during her Golden Jubilee Tour.

This temple is located on the main road along with a row of houses and shops. The front view is just like a shop with ordinary wooden doors. The sign board “Murugan Temple” only gives us the clue that there is a temple inside. As we climbed the steps, a beautiful South Indian temple with pyramid-shaped tower with many tiers decked with carved statues greeted our sight. Around the main temple we saw many other smaller temples dedicated to other Hindu gods and goddesses. In brief we can witness a pretty temple complex established in a spacious upstairs house consisting of four or five rooms with a library, two concert halls and a residential quarter for the chief priest. Just at the top of the stairs to the right side of the loft, the sacred form of Shiva is seen with a small idol of Nandi (the sacred bull) in front of the Lord Shiva. The gold-plated conglomeration of temples, and idols decorated with golden crowns and ornaments at once created the grandeur of a typical South Indian temple. The rooms were kept very neat. One can find the various mounts of various gods and goddesses along with a gilded chariot in one room. In midst of such a busy area, one can find a very beautiful Indian temple with all paraphernalia, which speaks of the clever and committed fervor of devotees who have not omitted any fine details in construction of the temple and in creating a sacred and devout atmosphere around.A huge array of garlands made of Indian flora such as chrysanthemums, jasmines and white lilies added more Indian splendor to the temple. Unlike in other temples of England, here we found a row of oil-lit lamps and scented incense-sticks. Just in the center of the ceiling there is a big exhaust pipe to suck out any smoke to avoid inconvenience to the visitors.

    

A Statue on the temple tower with pea-cocks

     

   

A Statuette on the walls of the temple tower

Another marked characteristic is that the idols of various deities are made of shining black stone or granite. Generally nowadays we find marble statues installed in the sanctum without customary oil-lit lamps and fragrance of incense sticks. The main deity Lord Murugan along with His two consorts stood on the pedestal along with His pea-cock mount, holding His mighty spear(called Shakthi) in one hand and a pole with the insignia of a rooster on a flag made of metal.This statue was made in the form of Murugan idol in Tiruchandur ( A famous Temple of Murugan in Tamilnadu) in1973 by Mohan Ram belonging to the famous Temple-Town, Kumbhakonam in Tamilnadu. This statue is almost five feet tall. The rich jewellery and silk garments enhanced the brilliance of the idols. Loads of fruits and flowers lay at the feet of the Lord as the priest was chanting rhythmically the one hundred and eight names of the Lord praising His divine attributes and achievements. Glowing camphor and oil-lit lamps were waved before the Lord to the accompaniment of the ringing temple bells amidst the shouts of Lord’s name by enthusiastic devotees. The priest went along with devotees to wave camphor-flame (arati)  to other gods and goddesses and worship them by offering flowers and fruits. All devotees bowed before the main deity and touched the incense of glowing camphor and dropped a few coins as a humble offering (Dakshina). Later all were blessed by the priest individually and were given holy water (thirtham) and consecrated offerings (prasadam). Devotees went round the sacred deities to show their respect and devotion. In another room we saw a row of lustrously polished metal idols which are taken in procession in the temple chariot on special festive occasions.

  

The Sacred Form of  Lord Shiva

Various idols in the room

      

The Chariot Festival

Gods mounted on various vahanas

      

As we got down the stairs there is a big hall with a row of tables and chairs. Some devotee has arranged a feast, a kind of doing charity, before starting his business enterprise. All the visitors were welcomed to have their sumptuous fill of South Indian dishes like dal, sambar, milk porridge and crunchy papads. All beamed with satisfaction as if God gave His sacred food (Prasadam) graciously along with His merciful blessings.

This temple serves as a shining example of how even in a limited space one can have an excellent temple meticulously observing and performing traditional rituals and providing moral and spiritual support to Indians and other interested people.

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   Dated:22-03-2014                                                               SOMASESHU GUTALA