| Bala Murugan Temple | |||||||||||
| Country: | Australia | ||||||||||
| State: | Western Australia | ||||||||||
| Location: | 12 Mandogalup Rd, Mandogalup WA 6167 | ||||||||||
| Deity: | Murugan | ||||||||||
| Festivals: | Thaipusam, Shasti Tithi, Panguni Uthiram | ||||||||||
| Architecture: | Dravidian architecture | ||||||||||
| Functional Status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Facade Direction: | East | ||||||||||
| Module: |
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Bala Murugan Temple (Tamil: பெர்த் சிவன் கோவில்) is a Hindu temple in Mandogalup, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Dedicated to the god Murugan, the temple is run by volunteers of the temple. Groundbreaking took place in 1996, and Bala Murugan Temple was completed and opened in 2008.[1]
Construction of the temple started in 1996, organised by the group Saiva Maha Sabai of Western Australia. However, construction faced delays in building and architecture planning, and the temple opened it doors to the public on 11 May 2008 and on the same day the first Kumbhabhishekham took place for the temple.[2]
The main deity of the temple is Murugan. However, the following deities also have shrines in the temple:
The temple priests perform poojas to specific gods and goddesses.[3] In addition, festivals celebrated at the temple include the following.
For Thaipusam, the temple does special pooja's from 4AM for lord Murugan. This festival commemorates the legend of the goddess Parvati offering her son, Murugan (Kartikeya) a vel (a divine spear) so he could vanquish the asura Surapadman and his brothers.
Ayyapan Poojai is an annual event in the temple which marks the start of the Karthigai month in the Hindu calendar and pooja is often performed by devotees who often go to pilgrimage to Sabarimala. The pooja is done in the shrine of lord Ayyappan in the temple.
Pradosham includes bimonthly prayers to Shiva during the three hours surrounding sunset on the thirteenth day of every fortnight in the Hindu calendar. Special pooja is done to lord Shiva in the temple.
Lakshmi Pooja is celebrated in the temple annually where married women go to the shrine of goddess Mookambika (the avatar of Lakshmi) in the temple and light diyas, and offer new clothing to the goddess.