A recent visit to a temple at Oddachatram ( Tamil Nadu) near Dindigul was really intersting and amusing.The God in this temple is Kuzhandai velappar (infant Muruga) also known as Mittai Murugan, a lover of candy. I was really surprised to see the interesting ritual in the temple where chocolates and candies were offered to God. The story related to the temple goes like this..........
A certain devotee prayed to God for an offspring and when his wish was fulfilled he offered worship to the Lord here and distributed chocolates among his relatives who accompanied him.That night Lord appeared in his dream and asked why He was not offered any candy. Immediately the devotee rushed to the temple and made his offerings of candy. Since then worshipping God by offering candy became a routine here. It was really a pleasant sight to see this ritual being performed by devotees.There are counters outside the temple to sell candies.
We were also offered chocolates by one of the devotees who had come with the family to celebrate their child's birthday. This temple is attached to the famous Palani Andavar temple which is 20 Kms. from here and is on NH 209. This temple is quite small but has 3 sub-shrines and has beautiful paintings on the inner walls of the temple.
How to reach- Dindigul is the nearest railway station. The nearest airport is at Coimbatore which is at a distance of 100 Kms.
Many buses ply from Palani as well as Dindigul to Oddanchatram. The temple is just 5 Kms, from the Oddanchatram town.
Accomodation : For stay - It is better to stay in Dindigul or Coimbatore.
Location map is given along with the labels.
47 comments:
Has to be one of My favorite Temples...
Well chocolates and temples, perfect combo:)
Looks very beautiful too!!
Looks like a small, but nice temple... have heard of oddanchatram.. some of my mom's relatives are from there, but have never gone there.
Interesting post.Mystifying are the ways of God.
Chitra,
Very interesting. It is the first time I heard it. But I have a question for you, I hope you don't mind. (By now, you know how much I like to discuss/debate...see my blog posts)
Most temples have India sweets but this is the first with Chocolates. As far as I know chocolates is a Western world invention. From beginning the chocolates are offered or it is kind of recent thing?
Also one logistical issue with chocolates are they melt and heat and Southern India being pretty hot. How is that handled?
nice temple
like the closeup shots
wow..it looks like a beautiful temple, visiting it was amazing experience for you I'm sure....
US Masala
How sweet. A temple where candy's are offered to God and where chocolates are distributed. Very cute.
All the places we pass by while going home to Kerala!
Interesting story..The story is another vindication of God being down to earth,No wonder sages called Him Sulabhasrithan-One who is easy to worship...!
Chitra,
I posted a comment earlier this morning...I don't see it here? Did you get it?
Arti, Thanks for the visit , Chocolates- my fav. and it was like a bonus when I visited the temple.
Anu, this temple is very small and do not know have much details abt. the temple.
KP , what you say is 100% true. It's all His doing.
A,
Your question is interesting. I really don't know when this custom started.This worship could be a recent one too.I will try to find out more about this on my next visit and will let you know. I recently read that in a book and as it is near my place I visited it and found it was true.
Though chocolates melts in the heat here, it is still relished by many. Shops who sell chocolates store that in refrigerator.The counters outside the temple sell only hard candy but if some devotee brings chocolates along it is offered .I hope you understand the picture now. Thanks for the query.
@ sm, thanks
@ Yes aipi I enjoyed .thanks
?- Exactly , you will see this temple when you travel to Kerala.
Kiran, Thanks a lot.
Sridharan,
Yes, God is always easily accessible, for those who want to reach him.
A, I am getting lot of spam these days hence I have just activated the comment moderation, Your comments are very safe and I value your comments a lot.
Chitra
Its very nice
This candy ritual seems to be a new one. Well, our gods have to keep pace with changing times, which is good!
I quite like the painting of Murugan's marriage.
A very beautiful temple indeed. Do the smaller ones also get crowded?
Aswathi, thanks.
Mridula,
Though small, this temple is very popular and pilgrims visiting the famous Palani temple also visit this. This temple is also a resting place for the padayatris who walk all the way to palani temple traversing hundreds of kilometeres.
Archana,
Your comment brought a smile to my lips. What you say is true. Gods are keeping pace with the changing times.
chitra ji u do a phd on temples..u r so wellversed on the subject now..cheers
A lover of candy? How wonderful. Of all the temples to visit, I'd love to go to this one. Seriously Chitra, another interesting and informative post, you always manage to get the length just right and these photos were really nice to see - I loved the blue skies given that we still have snow here.
Ramesh, thanks a lot. A ph.d....hm... may be I would get if they award one for visiting maximum number of temples. lol...
PW,
You are welcome and this temple is close to my place. Thanks for the appreciation. I know you are enjoying the temple visits with me. Shot all the pics early morning.
beautiful temple..
oooh i wish i cud have gone with u .. wud have got chocolates myself i love chocs...
Bikram's
Sushma,
thanks.
Bikram, You also love chocs. Me too. Thanks for the comment.
Very interesting ritual. Never knew this
As usual informative and interesting...
beautiful slide show
Insignia. Thanks.
sm, thanks a lot.
Stranger, thanks a lot.
It's always interesting to me to find that major stories in the Bible transcend all religions. Makes you wonder...
Great post, Chitra.
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intersting temple .children will like it most nice clicks
Very nice Chitra. It is really interesting to hear about the candy prasad.
Awesome, its very colorful isn't it. Seems Kochi has lot many places for me. Never been there, so Its time I guess to make a visit. Next vacations then.
Have you been to Mukhya pran devasthan in Mangalore. It has the entire Hanuman chalisa written on its walls
hey chitra, so strange..chocolates and mitai offering's god's name itself as "mittai vittala"so cute.
oh ok its murugan ,subrahmanya right?i got confused..after seeing the peacock photo ,i realised:)
Raji, I too felt you got confused. It's Subramanya.
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