Murugan Temple
Murugan Temple
The “Sri Mayurapathy Murugan Temple Berlin” based in the German capital is one of the few existing Hindu temples in the northern hemisphere. The temple was built in 1991 by nine Sri Lankan Tamils as a place to offer shelter to those seeking help, to answer the prayers of believers, to save them from their sins and to bless them. The opening of the temple was celebrated with a religious ceremony, the Kumbabishekam, led by the Hindu chief priest Siva Shri Parameswara Gurukkal.
At the same time, an eV with 200 members was founded, which is still called “Berlin Hindu Mahasabai eV”. From these members, 11 members are regularly elected to the board according to German law.
The special feature of this board is that they have chosen the god Sri Mayurapathy Murugan as their chairman. So you see this god himself as the leader of his temple and himself only as his 11 helpers. This ensures that no individual can hold a privileged position in the temple.
In order to review the activities of the Management Board, a Supervisory Board consisting of 5 members was set up to oversee the same. The supervisory board is elected every 4 years, whereas the term of office of the executive board lasts only 2 years.
Over time, through the efforts of the board and the financial support of the people of Berlin, the (small) premises of the temple were purchased and made common property.
Another special feature of this temple is that it is the only and first temple in Europe to hold 6 poojas a day without exception.
In addition, there are devotions every Tuesday for the welfare of the homeland of Sri Lanka and for spreading peace and happiness on earth, and meditations for one’s own well-being and that of one’s family every Friday.
The most important season for the temple is the month of August, in coordination with the particularly significant days of the native Nallur temple in Sri Lanka. On these holy days, on the 24th day of the holy time, the god Sri Mayurapathy Murugan and his consorts Valli and Devaanai are escorted out of the temple in the tar (parade wagon) built for this purpose. The procession that follows (car festival) leads around the square, while prayer songs and dances accompany the special rituals.
For all these rituals and daily poojas, the chief priest and the priests were flown in from Sri Lanka in the early years. At present this work is being carried out by priests from the neighboring country of our homeland, India.
Over time, the desire of the members of the eV, the Berlin population and other believers to build a temple for the god Sri Mayurapathy Murugan according to the holy regulations grew in size.
For this purpose, on May 30th, 2008 the members have a piece of land in Berlin Neukölln, Riesestr. 20-22/corner of Blaschkoallee. The Bhoomi Pooja (celebratory inauguration of the building site) took place on June 22, 2008 together with all believers.
Finally, on April 4th, 2009, the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone took place in the presence of the mayor of Neukölln and several hundred believers.
The new temple to our God has now been built thanks to his blessings despite some obstacles. The structure has a sky-reaching gopuram with stone-carved god figures both on the gopuram and on the various altars (small ashrams).
All structural measures were carried out by German construction companies under the supervision of the Berlin building authorities.
For the altars, the gopuram (gate tower) and all the doors and gates, carpenters and stone carvers who stand in the tradition of stone carving from Mahapalipuram/India were flown in from India.
The construction of the temple ended in the summer/autumn of 2013. On September 8th, 2013 the long-awaited Kumbabhishekam (temple inauguration) took place. Many Kumbams (vessels) containing holy water were poured onto the Gopuram (gate tower) by the Ayyars (priests). With that, the temple was officially opened. The celebrations were attended by hundreds of believers, for whom this extraordinary day will forever be remembered.
Since then, 6 poojas have been held daily in our Sri Mayurapathy Murugan Temple. It is very gratifying to see how often believers take the time to come to the temple and how many believers support the temple both financially and otherwise.
In August 2014, the Ayyars celebrated the almost month-long Lent for the first time with the faithful. Special poojas were held every day at the time and the temple was packed for the 6pm poojai each day. At the end of the Holy Lent, the highest religious festival, the Chariot Festival, took place with almost 400-500 believers.
Furthermore, it is gratifying that the faithful believers and other interested parties transfer a monthly amount of at least 10 € to the temple account mentioned below.
These financial contributions are not only a great support, they also provide the temple with a certain stability and further development.
We would like to inform you at this point that the history of our temple will soon continue and remain with best regards.