Thiruvalluvar Temple is a Hindu temple in the neighborhood of Mylapore in Chennai, India. The shrine is dedicated to the poet-saint Valluvar. Believed to have been constructed in the early 16th century, the temple was extensively renovated in the 1970s. The temple is under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charity Endowment Department. The temple also serves as the venue for meetings of Tamil lovers.
History
Close to the time of Valluvar's death, Elelasingan, a merchant at Mylapore and the disciple of Valluvar, expressed his desire to place Valluvar's body in a golden coffin and erect a monumental grave. Politely refusing his request, Valluvar requested him to tie his corpse with cords and leave it among the woods outside the town in order for the wild animals to feed on it. Elelasingan reluctantly obliged to his mentor's wishes and, upon doing so, observed that the crows and other animals that fed on his corpse "became beautiful as gold." He then built a small temple on the spot where he left Valluvar's corpse and instituted worship, where it remained for centuries. In the early 16th century, the present temple was built on the ruins of the old temple.
The temple
Situated on a 25-ground plot, the temple is located in a narrow lane adjacent to the Valluvar statue on Royapettah High Road. The temple complex has exclusive sanctums for various deities, namely, Lord Ganesha, Subramanya, Shiva and Parvathi, and separate sanctums for Thiruvalluvar and his consort Vasuki. The temple's sthala vriksham is the punnai or mastwood, the very species under which Valluvar was found as a baby by his foster parents. A pedestal was built around the tree in 1935, and the sacred tree was braced up with copper sheets. Renovation of the temple began in 27 April 1973. Holy consecration of the temple took place on 23 January 2001. The temple comes under the purview of the nearby Mundakakanniamman temple and is under the ambit of the Hindu religious charity department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. There is also a library within the temple campus. A community centre named “Valluvar–Vasuki Community Hall” has been built near the temple. Classes on the Tirukkural are also held in the evenings for children. In the introduction to his 1897 book The Ethics of Kural, J. M. Nallaswamy Pillai, describes the statue at the temple thus:
Rituals and Festivals
Like any other Hindu temple, the idols witness full Hindu temple rituals on a daily basis. Abhishekam is performed twice a day, along with alankaram. In the morning, rice is offered as neivedhyam. Draped in a white dhoti, the idol of Valluvar sports a dash of vibhuthi, kumkum, and sandalwood paste on the forehead. Besides these daily services, special pujas are performed during the Arubathi Moovar festival, the second day of the Chitrai month, Thiruvalluvar day, Chitra Pournami , and during the monthly Anusha star. The annual Vaikasi Anusham is celebrated as the birth day of the poet saint at the temple. According to legend, Valluvar gave some mud to Vasuki and asked her to cook it into food in order to marry her, which she did obligingly. To commemorate this, Pongal pots are kept in front of the sanctum sanctorum and on the Chitra Pournami day, some mud is sprinkled into these pots before boiling rice into the dish of pongal.
Funds
Being a small temple, the Valluvar temple cannot sustain itself and uses the funds from other temples. The temple's primary income comes from the wedding hall, a paid parking space and a few shops. The temple is part of temples that are under the Sri Mundagakanniamman Temple at Mylapore.
