Amma

Melmaruvathur is a small village located near Maduranthagam in Tamilnadu. Once it was full of bushes and thorns. Bangaru Adigal built a temple for Adhi Parasakthi. He started Engineering College, Medical College, Free Hospital and also Polytechnic for the welfare of the local community and downtrodden.

Daily people are coming to the Melmaruvathur Adhiparasakthi temple in large numbers. Devotees wear red colored dress while visiting Melmaruvathur Adhiparasakthi temple. The blood of the human beings is in red color irrespective of caste, creed and other differences. That is why people wear red colored dresses while visiting the Melmaruvathur temple.

Similar to Sabarimala, people wear the malai (a holy necklace) and stay pure and pious for a week and they visit the temple with the “irumudi” (containing rice, coconut and other offerings) and offer it to Goddess Sakthi. They are also allowed to clean the idol (of the Goddess) with milk. These things happen during the month of December and January every year.

There is no priest appointed in the temple. The devotees themselves do the temple duties by taking turns. Devotees call Bangaru Adigal as “Amma” which means that they consider him as their mother. Some people also see him as their Guru.

His devotees have launched Manrams (Associations) in every part of the country. Also there are Om sakthi manrams in Switzerland, Canada, US of America and other countries. All the devotees meet up in their manrams every week and do worship to Goddess Sakthi. Holy Bhajans and devotional songs are sung in praise of the holy mother. Group prayer is done by chanting the names of the Goddess. Prasadham (Food after offering to God) is distributed on that day.

There is lot of stories and miracles that had happened to many devotees. A number of men and women do voluntary service in and around the temple. At a time when there was no rain in Chennai, Bangaru Adigal along with his devotees did a mass homam (a sort of worship) near Marina Beach after which there was heavy rain in Chennai. The main advantage of the Melmaruvathur Adhiparasakthi manram is that common people can participate in all the activities and services.

People usually call other fellow devotees as sakthi. This is because there is no difference between them in front of the Goddess. One more reason is any person who wears a red dress and comes to the temple is considered as a form of sakthi (the holy mother). This confirms the fact that the supernatural power is within us and we need not search for it elsewhere.

The temple also offers a magazine in English and Tamil which gives information about the happenings in Melmaruvathur and also in other sakthi manrams (associations). It is strongly believed among the devotees that whichever family possesses this book, there Amma will reside. You can also watch Sakthi Ugam which is telecasted in RAJ TV daily morning at 7:30 am except on saturdays and sundays.

Melmaruvathur can be reached from Chennai (Madras) by road and rail. It is approximately two hours drive from Chennai. People also meet Bangaru Adigal and tell their problems for which he gives solutions and remedies. Inside the temple you may see lots of people doing Angapradashanam (rolling on the floor).

When I visited the temple I had a dharshan of Goddess Sakthi beautifully decorated with all the jewels and ornaments. They also gave lemon rice as prasadham. There is also a restaurant called Highway Inn where boarding and lodging are provided.

Bangaru Adigalar at Wikipedia page

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108 potri thiruvuru (pdf in tamil) - 108 names in praise of Melmaruvathur Adiparasakthi