Renovation work at Coimbatore’s Thandu Mariamman temple complete, kumbabhishekam to be held this week

COIMBATORE: The renovation work at the Thandu Mariamman Temple on the Avinashi Road in the city, which had been going on for around 2.5 years is almost complete and the Kumbabhishekam (holy consecration) of the temple would be held on Wednesday, said officials of the district Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) department. The Kumbabhishekam comes 18 years after the last one was done.
Officials at the temple said they received the work order in 2015 and had started the work 2.5 years ago. The main work which has been completed in the temple are the construction of the sanctum sanctorum, the artha mandapam (the hall in front of the sanctum) and the maha mandapam (the bigger hall in the entrance) – all done in stone. The Vimana on top of the sanctum had been constructed anew and the raja gopuram has been re-painted, said officials.

All the work had been done using donor funds, said an official at the temple.


“We estimate the cost of each work and announce it. Willing donors take up the expenses of each work and complete it,” said the official. The sanctum sanctorum and artha mandapam were constructed at a cost of around Rs40lakh, the maha mandapam at a cost of Rs40lakh and the vimanam over the sanctum was constructed at a cost of Rs10lakh and the painting work of raja gopuram was done at Rs3.5lakh, said the official.

Also, the prominent festival of the temple, the ‘Chiththirai Thiruvizha’ has not been held for the past four years. “Devotees have started to raise concerns about this. So we would organise it around 20 days after the kumbabhishekam,” said the official.

Also beautification work like installation of concrete sculptures on the pillars would be taken up after the kumbabhishekam, the official said. The kumbabhishekam comes 18 years after the last one in 2001. "Usually every 12 years we consecrate the temple, but this time it has been delayed a bit," said the official.

The Thandu Mariamman temple is one of the important temples in the city. According to the official legend published by the temple administration, the deity was installed by soldiers from the army of the Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, who happened to set up a camp at the area.

Historians too fix the age of the temple at around three centuries. The ‘Poochatti’ festival, where hundreds of devotees carry earthen pots filled with burning logs in a procession to the temple, is the biggest of its kind in temples in this region, he said. After a hiatus of four years, the festival is set to be held this year.