A Brief History
The Sellapillaiyar Temple was inaugurated in 1996 in Pasing, Munich. With the help of devotees living in Munich, all poojas and rituals were conducted satisfactorily. However, temple activities were halted for some years due to inevitable circumstances.
In 2010, a place in Neuaubing, Munich, was identified by initiatives made by the devotees and taken over for temple activities. Following a request made by the devotees, a general body was formed for the temple. The general body was named “Tamil Hindu Verein e.V” and a statute was prepared for controlling temple activities that were approved by the general body. A committee consisting of twelve members was formed as per the statute. With the help of the other eleven members, each month a member of the committee is responsible for the day-to-day activities in the temple. All requirements for the temple activities were taken over by the people of Munich, who attended the meeting on that day. Vinayagar Peruman (Pillaiyar) was chosen as the primary deity whereas Ambal, Murugan, Vairavar were chosen as secondary deities. Sanctum, the most sacred and inner-most portion of a temple accomodating the statue of the primary deity, small halls for the statues of other deities, and the main hall for devotees, were constructed. After that, the agamic temple consecration of statues and inauguration were done.
Following the sanctifying ceremony, poojas and rituals were conducted in the temple every Friday. Following the complaints made by the devotees regarding heavy rental payment for the temple premises and only utilizing five days per month for temple activities, a priest from Sri Lanka was invited by the temple committee to offer temple activities daily. Since the arrival of the priest, daily poojas, as well as special poojas on occasions like New Year or Thai Pongal, have been conducted in the temple. Devotees have come forward voluntarily to offer their full cooperation and financial support to conduct the day-to-day activities of the temple. All supports and suggestions made by the devotees are very useful and valuable to improve the temple activities. As the economic support increased and devotees offered their continuous help in various ways, a proposal was made by the committee to buy property, which was realized a few years after by collecting funds from the devotees by the temple committee. The raised amount was higher than expected, thus, a property including a building was purchased for the temple. As a result, as of July 2, 2020, day-to-day temple activities have been conducted in the temporary hall erected in the new temple premises.
Currently, the construction of the Sanctum and the other halls is in progress. The agamic temple consecration of statues (Khumbhabhishekam) will be done once the construction work of the temple at the new permanent place is completed. At the same time, we all cooperate and take the necessary steps to collect funds from interested parties, devotees, and the public. Moreover, we plan to settle the balance amount with the party affiliated with the purchase of the property as soon as possible so that we can handover the temple to the next generation without any debt. Sellapillayar always gives his blessings, if and when requests are made by his devotees.
“May Sellapillayar bless all”.