Manakula Vinayagar Temple is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple in the Union Territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

, India. Dedicated to the god Ganesa, it is a popular pilgrimage site and tourist destination in Puducherry. The temple is of considerable antiquity and predates French occupation of the territory. During the tenure of Dupleix, there were attempts to destroy the temple, but it was spared owing to strong protests from the Hindu population and the threat of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

invasion of the territory.

Location

The Manakula Vinayagar Temple is one of the ancient temples in

, a Union Territory situated in the southern part of the Indian sub-continent. The temple is 400 meters West of the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

, 165 km South of Chennai (Capital of Tamil Nadu State), 23 km of North of

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

and 35 km East of

Viluppuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. The main deity of this temple, "Manakula Vinayagar" (Pranavamurthy), is facing east. The temple was once bordered on the east side by Orlean Street (Now Manakula Vinayagar Koil Street), south by Jawaharlal Nehru Street, north by Law-de-Louristhon street and west by a canal running north–south. Temple was renovated in 2015. It is highly frequented by tourists, being just 10 minutes walk from the famous beach road facing the Promenade Beach of Pondicherry.

Specialty

The Manakula Vinayagar Temple, in

, is a grand and beautiful temple, dedicated to the Hindu lord Ganesha. Puducherry might be a place full of churches but Manakula Vinayagar Temple is highly coveted among Hindu devotees and tourists, traveling from all parts of the country. Being more than 500 years old, it has an illustrious history and is one of the oldest temples in the region. The temple derives its name from two Tamil words Manal meaning 'sand' and Kulam meaning 'pond near the sea'. The temple was known by the name Manal Kulathu Vinayagar earlier. A number of festivals and celebrations are conducted at the temple all throughout the year, yet Brahmothsavam, a 24-day long festival, is the most important one. While we have not heard of a night shrine for

Vinayaka Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

in any temple, there is one in the Manakula Vinayagar temple. He stays here with his consorts. The idol taken to this shrine, called Palliarai, will have the feet part alone. Vinayaka on the Well: The stage (peetam) set for the God is in a well which many may not know. This may be a well or even a tank. A six-inch radius pit runs on the left side of the peetam, the depth of which could not be measured and it is always full.

Golden Chariot

The golden chariot was made purely on the basis of collection of donations from the devotees. The total weight of the gold used in this chariot is 7.5 kg with the estimate of around Rs.35 lakhs. The height & breadth of the chariot is 10 ft & 6 ft. The chariot was fully made up in teakwood covered by copper plates duly engraved with beautiful art works and the plates duly attached with golden rakes. At first the running of the said Golden Chariot was held on 05-10-2003 in a grand manner. At present most of the devotees are very much interested to fulfill their prayer by pulling the Golden chariot inside the temple on payment of fixed fees. Once in year i.e. on Vijayadhasami day the said Golden Chariot run outside of the temple i.e. only in the maada veedhis.

Thollaikkathu Siddar

Nearly 300 years before a saint (referred as Siddar in Tamil language) standing 6ft tall said to have got enlightenment from this deity and attained

Samadhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

in this temple. From then on people bring their new born here for worship before going to any other temple.

Scholar works about the temple

# Mahan Vanna Sarabam Dhandapani Swamigal has sung Sthothira Parthigam on Lord Manakula Vinayaga Peruman. # Sri V. M. Subramania Iyer has written "Puduvai Manakula Vinayagar Suprapatham." # Also some 100 years back Puduvai Mahavidvan Sri P. A. Ponnuswamy has written "Manakula Vinayagar Nanmani Malai" for which Tamil teacher Sri Ellapillai has written a support poem "Vedapuriyil Vilangum Mankulthu Nathan". # Puduvai Nellithope Sri G. Ramanuja Chettiar has written and released in "Sri Manakula Vinayagar Parthigam". #

Subramania Bharathi C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

has sung about Manakula Vinayagar in "Vinayaga Naanmani Maalai"

Gallery

File:Pondicherry Manakula Vinayagar Temple.JPG, Gate leading into the Temple. File:Pondicherry Manakula Vinayagar Temple elephant.JPG, The Temple elephant "Lakshmi", that gives blessings to visitors. File:MVtemple.JPG, Part of the temple interior, showing many carved figures above a shrine. File:Shops near manakula vinayagar temple.JPG, shops near manakula vinayagar temple File:A devotee at manakula vinayagar temple.JPG, A devotee at manakula vinayagar temple File:Devotee footwears stands at manakula vinayagar temple.JPG, devotee footwears stands are guarded safely until they complete the rituals in the temple at manakula vinayagar temple File:Coconut breaking point at Manakula vinayagar temple.JPG, coconut breaking point at Manakula vinayagar temple File:Manakula vinayagar temple north entrance.JPG, Manakula vinayagar temple north entrance File:Spiritual shops at Manakula vinayagar temple.JPG, spiritual shops at Manakula vinayagar temple File:Manakula Vinayagar temple south entrance.JPG, Manakula Vinayagar temple south entrance File:Manakula Vinayagar Temple 1.JPG, Manakula Vinayagar Temple File:Manakula Vinayagar Temple street name in french and tamil language.JPG, Manakula Vinayagar Temple street name in French and Tamil language File:Mmexport1554260825685.jpg, Manakula Vinayagar Temple Urchavar - 1. File:Mmexport1554260814858.jpg, Manakula Vinayagar Temple Urchavar - 2 File:Mmexport1554260820925.jpg, Manakula Vinayagar Temple Idols of Worship] File:DSC 1218-EFFECTS.jpg, Tanjore Painting of Manakula Vinayagar File:Elephant Lakshmi.jpg, Devotees with Elephant Lakshmi File:Roof painting at the entrance of Manakula Vinayagar Temple.jpg, Temple Roof Top Painting File:Festival Urchavar.jpg, Temple Festival of Manakula Vinayagar of Pondicherry

Notes

External links

* {{coord, 11.935783, N, 79.833713, E, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Hindu temples in Puducherry Ganesha temples Buildings and structures in Pondicherry (city)
Temple by the Beach