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The main deity of the temple is Murugan in his form as Sivasubramaniar. His Sanskrit names are among others Subramanya, Skanda and Karttikeya. Murugan is one of the most venerated gods among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus. The image shows the brick made shrine of Murugan, in front the pali pitha ("place for sacrifice") and the vehicle of Murugan, the peacock. |
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On top of the shrine, the dome-shaped roof displays the vehicle of Murugan, the peacock. |
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The temple has also the flag post where the temple's priests hoist the flag to start the temple festival. Though the temple is comparatively spacious, nevertheless, the various shrines had to be placed nearby each other to accommodate them all in the hall. |
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Murugan and his two wives are made out of precious metal. The figures are the deities, which are to be taken around for procession, both inside and outside of the temple. |
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The priest conducts puja in front of Murugan and his wives. Humbly the visitors follow the homage of the priest to the gods. |
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The Sivasubramaniar temple has also a multi-purpose function hall. Assemblies can be held and weddings performed. Note the nicely decorated marriage baldachin in front of which children play while rituals are made in the temple room. |
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In addition to the special veneration of Iyappan many Hindus bring special offerings to the powerful planet god Sani, in autumn. Oil lamps are burnt und turn the air in the temple smoky. |
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After having lit the lamps, the family receives the gods' blessing, passed on by the priest. Then they circumambulate the shrine of the nine plant gods. Like the shrines for the other gods it is also topped by a dome-shaped roof, though open to all for sides. |
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The Saturday evening ends with a special light offering to Iyappan. The stage, a stairway, is prepared behind the curtain displaying Murugan as six-headed god with his two wives. In front children wait with their mother for the puja to start. |
