North America Murugan Temple Hours:
Monday to Friday: 9.00 AM to 12.00 PM and 5.00 PM to 9.00 PM
Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays: 9.00 AM to 9.00 PM
North America Murugan Temple Daily Puja’s and Abishekams:
Sunday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva Abishekams
11.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
5.00 PM Durga Devi Abishekams
Monday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva Abishekams
10.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
7.00 PM Lord Shiva Abishekams
Tuesday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva Abishekams
10.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
7.00 PM Meenakshi Abishekams
Wednesday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva Abishekams
10.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
Thursday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva Abishekams
10.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
7.00 PM Palani Andavar
7.30 PM Dhakshinamurthy
Friday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva Abishekams
10.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
7.00 PM Ganesh Abishekams
Saturday Daily Abishekams:
9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Ganesh and Lord Shiva & Navagraha Abishekams
11.00 AM Murugan Abishekams
North America Murugan Temple Deities:
Lord Ganesha
Lord Murugan
Lord Siva
Sri Meenakshi
Sri Durga
Navagraham
Palani Andavar
Tribute to Saiva Saints
Kirubananda Variyar
North America Murugan Temple History:
The history and development of the Murugan Temple in North America is a fascinating and at the same time comforting experience for those who have been involved since its inception. It is a story to tell, to read and to preserve for posterity. This is the story that reflects the glory of Lord Murugan and his immeasurable blessings to all his devotees, wherever they can live and worship him.
In the decade that began in 1980, Dr. Gopal Gurusamy and Dr. Baskaran were part of a small group that was considering a temple for Lord Murugan. Around the same time, a group of devotees led by Sri Arumugam Saravanapavan offered prayers to Sri Valamburi Vinayakar, generously donated by Satguru Swami Subramuniya Kauai Aadheenam, Hawaii, in a relaxed atmosphere in Maryland. The two groups with the same thought came together, discussed and decided that proposed by Dr. Gopal Guruswamy to adopt the name “Murugan Temple of North America” for the temple to be built. The vision was to build an authentic temple for Lord Murugan at the national level near the US capital. In order to preserve the cultural and ethnic values of our great people. A large gathering of the devotees unanimously selected Dr. Gopal Guruswamy as the congregational president, had only $ 3,400 as seed money.
After an exhaustive search of about four years, in 1986, an area of 11.5 acres was acquired at the current location of the temple. The determination and the hard work of the agents at the time led to the purchase of the land. In 1987, Sri Valamburi Vinayakar was transferred to the settlement and the Balalayam for Lord Murugan was established to begin the process of planning the construction of the temple.
A group of thirty devotees, under the direction of the late Dr. Kumaresan of New York, visited the temporary site that houses the deities and extended their unequivocal support for the construction of the temple. A team of nine directors: seven from Maryland (Dr. Baskaran, Dr. Kulathungam, Dr. Ravendhran, Dr. B. Subramanian, Mr. A. Saravanapavan, Dr. M. Krishnamurthy, and Mr. S. Krishnaswamy), Dr. VS Gandhi, from New Jersey, and the Dr. Kumaresan of New York was elected under the direction of Dr. Gopal Guruswamy as President. Almost all directors continued their hard work until Kumbhabishekam in 1999.
His Holiness Thiru Kirupananda Variar Swami visited the temple and, together with Sri Satchithananda Swami, held the pioneering ceremony on June 4, 1989.
In the following years, fundraising efforts continued in many parts of the United States, Including NJ, NY, Delaware Valley, Pittsburgh and the Chicago area. Despite setbacks and failures for a time, Lord Murugan showed us how to get a building permit from Prince George County of Maryland to build the Lanham Temple. The issuance of the county permit testifies to the considerable efforts of Mr. T. S. Seshadri, civil engineer of the temple and his committee.
In the succeeding years, fundraising efforts continued in many parts of the US, including NJ, NY, Delaware Valley, Pittsburgh, and Chicago area. Despite the setbacks and failures for sometime, Lord Murugan showed us the way to obtain a building permit from the Prince Georges County of Maryland to build the temple in Lanham. The issuance of county permit is a testamentto the tremendous efforts of Mr. T. S. Seshadri, Civil Engineer of the temple, and his Committee.
In the following years, fundraising efforts continued in many parts of the United States. UU., Including NJ, NY, Delaware Valley, Pittsburgh and the Chicago area. Despite setbacks and failures for a time, Lord Murugan showed us how to get a building permit from Prince George County of Maryland to build the Lanham Temple. The issuance of the county permit testifies to the considerable efforts of Mr. T. S. Seshadri, civil engineer of the temple and his committee.
On April 23, 1994 marks a new stage with Homam Vasthu locating the exact place where Lord Murugan’s shrine is being built. Undeterred by the poor financial situation, and with the unwavering support of Mr. Sriskanda Rajah as construction engineer and other members of the team, the construction of the temple was completed in 1998. But 1995 and 1996 were dark and dark because of lack of funds. Six devotees (Dr. Guruswamy Gopal, Dr. S. BASKARAN, Dr. Ramaswamy, Dr. Gopal J.J., Dr. Uma Maheswaran and Dr. Vasantha Kumar) and their families gathered and pledged their assets as collateral to secure a construction loan from the Citizens Bank of Maryland. Thiru L. Mudaliar Jagadeesa Chennai Kumbhabishekam established a committee in the early 1990s and coordinated a major fundraising campaign in Tamil Nadu. Through his tireless efforts, he could obtain bronze statues of Lord Murugan and his Valli and Deivayani made in Kumbakonam and sent to Murugan Temple in time for Kumbhabishekam.
At the time of Kumbhabishekam, the consecration of Lord Murugan, Valli and Deivayani as the main deities was performed, and Sri Sundareswarar, Sri Meenakshi, Sri Palani Andavar and Sri Valamburi Vinayakar as parivara murthys. In May 1999, more than 5,000 Murugan worshipers from across the United States and other countries gathered and celebrated Kumbhabishekam on a grand scale for Lord Murugan and other temple deities. The celebration was a phenomenal success, to say the least. The food service was excellent under the supervision of Mrs. Revathy Iyer. The great saints Thiru Santhalinga Ramaswamy Adigal of Perur Aadheenam, His Holiness Gurudeva Subramuniya Swamy of Kauai Aadheenam, and His Holiness Sri Sachithananda Swami of LotusTemple of Virginia honored the occasion. Arutselvar (afternoon) Thiru N. Mahalingam from Tamil Nadu presided over the ceremony.
In January 2011, Sri Thurgai Amman was installed and a dedication ceremony was held. later in the year Ashtabandhana Jeeranodharana Kumbhabishekam was celebrated to commemorate the 12th year of the initial consecration ceremony of the temple.
Plans to build a Rajagopuram according to the ‘Washington Murugan’ began in earnest in 2012. Generous devotees donated about $ 2 million. The first phase of the Rajagopuram project used donations to build the five-story tower and decorate the interior (prayer room) with an aesthetically pleasing architectural temple work. Mr. TS Seshadri has again assumed the leadership of the Thirupani Kuzhu (Construction Committee), and with the (last) MK Loganathan as project coordinator, the team has worked diligently to lead the construction project to such an extent that we could Appreciate today The board, the executive committee and the permanent committees of the temples were involved and contributed their service at every step of the realization of the project.
The second phase of the project is designed to include a kitchen, a dining room, services for devotees, a Yaga Sala and other facilities. Additional funding is required for $ 3 million; We are confident that Murugan’s devotees will continue their generosity and provide the funds necessary to achieve the goal.
Much of the credit goes to Padmasri Muthiah Sthapathy for his vision, the architectural design of the Murugan Temple and his leadership; the beauty of the unique interior architecture and the majesty of Murugan Rajagopuram testify to the exceptional abilities of silpis (artisans of the Tamil Nadu temple) and their leader Sri Srinivasan Sthapathy.
July 10, 2016 marked a historic occasion for the Murugan Temple in North America, where we celebrated Noothana Rajagopura Maha Kumbhabishekam and dedicated three new deities to the temple. This celebration left an indelible impression in the minds of Lord Murugan’s devotees.
North America Murugan Temple Address:
6300 Princess Garden Parkway
Lanham,
MD 20706,
USA.
Phone: 301-552-4889
Fax: 301-552-5043
