Wish of the devotee

An ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman had dreamt of building a temple for the Lord during his life time and took it on himself to achieve this. He had got a granite stone statue for the Lord made from his own savings. The statue was very beautiful, the eyes of the lord were pleasant and Lord Hanuman was majestic in look in standing posture with folded hands. The statue was measuring around twelve feet in height.V

Hardship faced

Hanumathavanam HanumanThe devotee had kept the statue in open in Thanigachala Mudali Street in Tyagaraja Nagar, Chennai where he was living. He use to perform daily puja to the Lord from his own savings. He had the ambition to build a temple for the Lord and spread the greatness of the Lord to many. He was not able to mobilize enough funds for building a temple for the Lord. The place he was living was on rental, and these activities of his had put other tenants to inconvenience. He was then forced to move out of this place, and he had found a place in nearby Ashok Nagar area. He had moved the statue of the Lord also with him.

Continued efforts

He continued his efforts to raise funds for the building of the temple. He had failed on this account but he had never failed to perform daily puja to the Lord. His efforts to keep the statue in his house, gave raise to lot of inconvenience to others who were sharing the same plot. Then after twelve years of his efforts had not yielded any fruitful results in late eighties he had shifted the statue of the Lord Hanuman to one corner of the park maintained by Chennai city Corporation nearby.

New abode decided by the Lord

The Lord had probably decided to be in open, hence this? But the devotee had performed the morning and evening puja to the Lord kept open to sky in this place. Now slowly people started realizing the power of the Lord. With the presence of the Lord Hanuman in the location the young boys and girls drew inspiration for their ventures like examinations or games. Since Lord was standing in open the boys and girls would worship the Lord in their own way, which is uncommon in South India for Lord Hanuman. In south India normally only pujaries use to perform puja to the deity.

Public efforts

Since the Lord was occupying an unallotted place owned by corporation, the authorities wanted to remove the statue from that park. Group of young men of the colony assembled and did not allow the corporation to remove the Lord from the park. Then people of the location got the name of the park renamed as "Hanumanthavanam". Subsequently they approached the authorities and a small housing (roof) with coconut leafs was put up for the Lord Hanuman initially.

New worship method 'Swayam Puja'

Any body who wants to perform the puja can themselves perform puja to the Lord any time. Initially this is how the temple had come to existence. Slowly it started picking up movementum and devotees irrespective of caste and creed started performing the puja to the Lord Hanuman. This method of allowing the devotee to perform puja to the Lord by the devotee themselves without any intervention by the pujaries was something new to south Indian temples.

Hanumanthavanam TempleManagement

Today the "Hanumanthavanam Trust" manages the affairs of the temple. Daily pujas are performed by the temple priest. The pujas can be got performed by the temple priest or devotee themselves can perform it. The devotees can bring the 'prasadam' and offer to the Lord and no 'prasadam' are cooked in the temple. This temple is called 'suya puja koil'. In case any devotee wants any help in collection of the puja samagris the trust will help them if the required amount is deposited with them. Today vadamalai, butter alankaram are possible with the help of this group.

Functions in the temple and social activates of the association

Sri Rama Navami, Sri Hanumath Jayanthi are celebrated in a grand manner. The trust feeds deserving fifty people daily. They also help school children with free uniforms and books. There are some special classes conducted for weak students. Today there is a big hall around thirty feet by twenty feet in front of the sannadhi of the Lord Hanuman. The temple is in plot measuring thirty feet in the front and ten feet on the back. There is a small sannadhi for Lord Genesha also.

I salute Thee to give me inspiration, magnanimity, and Santhi.

-Ms. Sowmya Srinevas
Chennai

Hanumanthavanam Trust,
53rd Street, Ashok Nagar,
Chennai - 600 083
Phone : (044) 2474 5090

Working Hours of Temple : 6 AM to 11 AM & 5 PM to 9 PM
Working Hours of Office : 7 AM to 12 Noon & 5 PM to 8.30 PM