Aalala Sundara Vinayagar Temple, Madurai
Aalala
Sundara Vinayagar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha located at
Madurai City in Madurai District of Tamilnadu. The Temple is located in the corner of West Masi street and North Masi
street. This Temple is famous for the Kalyana Varam (Marriage Boon). The Temple
is also called as Nehru Aalalasundara Vinayagar Temple. The prefix Nehru was
attached when Jawaharlal Nehru, while taking part in a procession in the city,
stepped down from his car, to worship the Lord. This Temple has a distinctive
system followed strictly for the past 50 years.
The concrete structure containing a stone inside is
present, as in most other temples, as a precautionary and facilitating measure;
precaution in the sense that chances are less to prick the bare-footed
devotees. It also enables the poor to collect the nut easily from one point. The
priests garner the nuts broken inside the structure by the devotees and dole
them out to the long-time residents of Nadar Street, Makkan Thoppu, Mani Nagaram
and Kakka Thoppu, who have with them the tokens that were issued when the
system was introduced.
The token holders, belonging to the lower rungs, pay
Rs.3 in monthly fee to boost the temple proceeds. However, the service does not
benefit the new families. The women preserving these tokens as a hereditary
asset, even after shifting their residences, go to the temple daily to collect
the nuts. There is no hard and fast rule on quantity. As per the reserve, the
priest gives them away.
The small temple is located at the junction of the
North and West Masi Streets. The Temple is located at
about 700 meters from Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, 1 Km from Madurai Koodal
Azhagar Temple, 1.5 Kms from Madurai Periyar Bus Stand, 850 meters from Madurai
Railway Station, 7 Kms from Madurai Mattuthavani Integrated Bus Terminus, 7 Kms
from Vandiyur, 8 Kms from Thiruparankundram and 11 Kms from Madurai Airport. Madurai
being a popular tourist center is well connected by railways and has daily flights to Colombo (Sri Lanka), Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
Location