Pray For Peace and Good Health.

Look at the number of devotees of Lord Ganesan!


The big 'umbrella' is ready for the next day's procession.


So splendidly decorated!



The top part of the temple.


An image of the deity.


Decoration done at the place immediately after the entrance to the temple.


It's all about the elephant deity.


At the entrance into the temple is the sculpture of an elephant.


On another side of the entrance is another elephant sculpture.


The AOL stall set up near the temple with volunteers happily doing whatever they can.




People stop at The Art of Living Stall for a cup of enzyme drink and information.

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The 23rd of August, a Sunday, was Lord Ganesan’s birthday and this day was celebrated by devotees of Lord Ganesan, the elephant deity, throughout the world. Lord Ganesan’s birthday is known as Vinayagar Sathurthi.

In Sungai Petani, although there was rain throughout the day, devotees went to the temple to pray to Lord Ganesan. After prayers, at noon, food was distributed to the devotees by the temple. The next night, Monday night, there would be a procession in which a chariot would be drawn through certain streets of Sungai Petani.

All that celebration took place at the Arulmigu Sri Sitha Vinayagar Alayam Temple in Sungai Petani. It is a well decorated temple as can be seen from the carvings, pictures and sculptures found all over the place in the temple. I took some pictures of the decorations that temple officials and devotees put up on the 22nd of August in readiness for Vinayagar Sathurthi. You can see the splendour of the temple from the pictures I have posted.

The founder, Mr. And Mrs. K. Vello Muthaliar s/o Kanniah Muthaliar and devotees have done a tremendous job of building this majestic temple with its beautiful sculptures and pictures in memory of a deity who must have brought much peacefulness and health to the people.

Just as the Chinese built shrines to commemorate spirits for their assistance in providing health and peace to the residents, the Indians have such temples for the same purpose. No matter what our religion is, we should always respect any deity or spirit which helps people to find peace and regain health. Miraculous healing does take place. When such healing takes place, it must be the work of God, for who has such power but God. Goodness can only come from a good source. As the Christians say: God works in mysterious ways. And being God, it is possible to reach out to His people through one of the deities such as Ganesan. To God, I believe nothing is impossible. What we see must be one of God’s ways.

Blogger’s note: Where the elephant deity is concerned, I have a special interest in him as I have personally known a medium of the deity in the Tai Pee San Temple in Tanjung Bunga, Penang Island; a very special medium and the medium was my uncle. I shall write about him in a future posting.