A Visit to the Arulmighu #RatnagiriBalamurugan #Temple in #Vellore, Tamil Nadu #templestories 6

Our visit to the Ratnagiri Balamurugan Temple coincided with a very auspicious day for the worship of Lord Murugan, the Thai Krithigai day. The temple is located around 18 Km from Vellore city on the Vellore-Arcot road, at Thirumanikundram, Kilminnal.  

A beautiful archway welcomes the devotees and one can see the temple tower (Gopuram) from a distance.

The Arulmighu Ratnagiri Murugan Temple

The entrance Arched Gateway

The temple is picturesquely nestled atop a hill called Ratnagiri and a long flight of steps lead to the main sanctum. Many devotees,(especially locals), prefer to climb the steps to have a darshan of their favorite God. However there is also a well maintained roadway leading to the hill top. A spacious parking space ensures that one can park their vehicle safely.

The motorable road leading to the temple

The beauty of the temple tower (gopuram) is enhanced by aesthetically carved sculptures. We entered the temple premises and offered our worship to Lord Vinayaka first. Being Thai Krithigai, there was a heavy rush of devotees, but they were waiting for their chance to have darshan and offer worship in a very orderly queue. It took us more than 45 minutes to reach the sanctum sanctorum. 

The Notice board with the list of pujas and timings

A view of the artistic sculptures on the gopuram

There is a note displaying the various pujas and timings on the way to the sanctum. The main deity is Balamurugan (child Murugan) and the utsava murthi is Shanmugan (Murugan with six heads). The Lord gives darshan to his devotees along with his consorts Devayanai and Valli.  There is a beautiful golden chariot in which the Lord is carried out in procession for circumambulation of the shrine on festival days.

There is a separate exit point from where we come out after darshan and alight a few steps to leave the premises.

The exit point from the sanctum

We were told that the temple was originally a very simple one on top of the hill. It is an ancient temple and there is evidence of its existence prior to the 14^th century as the famous Tamil Saint Arunagirinadhar had mentioned Rathnagiri Murugan in his verses praising the Lord. Devotees of Lord Muruga believe that wherever there is a hill, their Lord will reside on it. Many of the famous Subramanya Swamy temples are on hill tops and Rathnagiri Balamurugan temple is one of them.

It is said that when a devotee went up the hill to worship Lord Muruga, he asked the priest to light camphor for deeparadhana.  The priest said that there was no camphor in the temple. The devotee then asked for at least an incense stick to be lit. But the priest did not have that also. The devotee was really saddened by the dire state of penury at this temple. He fainted. The priest and others tried to bring him to the foothills, by which time he had regained consciousness. He was spiritually awakened and took it upon himself to rebuild the temple to Lord Balamurugan and restore its glory. This significant event took place on 20^th March 1968, and the devotee was called Swami Balamurugan Adimai. The temple in its present grand form has been built by Swami Balamurugan Adimai with the help of the devotees.

The temple is open to devotees for darshan from 6.00 am to 1.00 pm and 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm.

Skanda Shashti is the most important festival, celebrated at the temple for six days. The Krithigai of every month sees large crowds as does the Shashtis and Pournamis. Panguni Uthiram, Navaratri and the enlightenment day of the Swami on 20^th March are also celebrated with great fervor.

 #Ratnagiri #Vellore #Balamurugan #Temple #TamilNadu #SkandaShashti #Krithigai