Muthumariamman Temple (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: முத்து மாரியம்மன் கோவில்) or Arulmigu Sri Muthumari Amman

Kovil Kovil or koyil (meaning: residence of god)The modern Tamil word for Hindu temple is ''kōvil'' () meaning "the residence of God". In ancient Tamil Nadu, the king (, ''Kō'') was considered to be a ‘representative of God on earth' and lived i ...

is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple in

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, , , ) is a major city in Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative capital and largest urbanised city of Matale District. Matale is also the second largest urbanised and populated city in Central P ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The prefix "muthu" literally means

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

. "Mari" means rain and "Amman" means mother in Tamil language. The temple is dedicated to

Mariamman Mariamman, often abbreviated to Amman (), is a Hindu Dravidian folk religion List of rain deities, goddess of weather, predominantly venerated in the rural areas of South India. Her festivals are held during the late summer/early autumn season ...

, the goddess of rain and fertility. The chariot festival in this temple is held usually coinciding with

Magam Magam is a tehsil in central Kashmir's Beerwah sub-district. It is also a town, notified area committee, and a block in Budgam district in the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is away from sub-district headquarter ...

on a Full Moon Poya Day.

History

The land was originally part of a paddy field and was gifted by the owner in 1852. The current temple was built in 1874, funded by the Nattukkottai Chettiar. This temple is used by both Hindus and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

s. The temple was originally a small statue under a tree prayed to by the Hindu people but has been developed by the people in Matale. The first

Kumbhabhishekham ''Kumbhabhishekam'', also known as ''Samprokshanam'' is a Hindu temple ritual that is believed to homogenize, synergize and unite the mystic powers of the deity. It is part of the consecration ceremony of Hindu temples. ''Kumbha'' means the Hea ...

of the temple was held in 1960. The temple was severely damaged during the anti-Tamil riots in July 1983 but was subsequently restored. One of the visually dominant features of this temple is its high

Gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu: గోపురం, Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of th ...

('Raja Koburum'), a large decorated tower located above the main northern gateway ('Vadakku Vaayil') to the temple. The Raja Koburum is one of the largest Gopurams in Sri Lanka. The 1008 statues of Hindu deities are the work of South Indian sculptor, Nagalingam and his son Ramanathan, with the help of about 100 designers, painters and architects from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

and

. The Raja Koburum was completed in 2007 at the cost of approximately Rs 150M.

Special events

The main religious festivals including the

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

festival at the temple are celebrated during February or March on an annual basis. The temple has five ornate

s, which are used to convey statues of Hindu deities around the city on 'Ther' or 'Vettai Thiruvizha', the chariot ceremony day, which is held the day before ' Medin Poya' (the

Poya Poya is the name given to the lunar month, Lunar monthly Buddhism, Buddhist holiday of Uposatha in Sri Lanka, where it is a civil and bank holiday. When earth makes Full Orbit of moon is normally considered as the poya day in Sri Lanka every mon ...

day in March).

Ganesha Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

Mahadevi Mahadevi (, , IPA: / mɐɦɑd̪eʋiː/), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, and Mahamaya, is the supreme goddess in Hinduism. According to the goddess-centric sect Shaktism, all Hindu gods and goddesses are considered to be manifestations of t ...

Murugan Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...

and Chandeshvara Nayanar are the five prominent statues of Hindu deities which are carried by devotees in the chariot festival.

Wedding hall

There is a large wedding hall for the

people. This wedding hall has been in use from 1856 to the present.

References

{{reflist Hindu temples in Matale District Religious buildings and structures in Matale Mariamman temples in Sri Lanka Mariamman temples 19th-century Hindu temples

History

Special events

Wedding hall

See also

References