Daily Annadhanam By Sri Marathandavar Bala Thandayuthapani Temple @ Maran, Pahang

This entry is a very unique one as it is not about another eatery but about one of the Hindu Temple's that is very close to my heart and their service to the community. The temple is none other than the Sri Marathandavar Bala Thandayuthapani Temple that is located in Maran, Pahang. Most Hindu's in this country would know about this temple and the grand Pangguni Uthiram Festival and as such, There seems to be nothing much as far as the history is concerned and I am sharing an article here for your reading pleasure.

Just to give a little history on this temple, the following is an excerpt of an interview between one of the Hindu Journals and the temple Chief Priest, Sri K.S. Ganapathy Archagar in 2001. About 120 years ago, construction of the road from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan was in progress here. When a large tree was being chopped, and this is a Rudraksha Tree, it started to bleed. One of the Tamil workers went into a trance at the same time. He said that that tree should be spared and the road laid a short distance away. The British supervisor refused. To everybody;s astonishment, a figure of a child appeared on the trunk of the tree. The supervisor was suprised and changed his mind. The road was laid away from the tree. The place became sacred and it took the name of Sri Marathandavar Bala Dhandayuthapani. Several true devotees have experienced miracles here. They are bestowed with good fortunes in their lives. The lame had walked, the dumb had spoken and the chronic sick, healed. These miracles are still occuring until this day. I came here in 1955, at the age of 30. My salary was then 20 Ringgit. This temple was made up of zinc sheets and wooden planks. The usual miracle that occured here then was, if any vehicle passes by this temple without stopping, it will stall at a short distance later and will not restart until the Vibuthi (Holy Ash) from the temple is applied on it. Pangguni Uthiram (March / April) is the grandest festival here. In those days, there used to be 500 archanai's. Now it exceeds more that 800,000 . 

In 1962, I had a dream. In it, I saw a Siddhar (Devotee of Lord Murugan) , who lived here about 200 years ago. He was walking towards the 'tree' after having his bath in the nearby stream. He vanished into the tree. Appearing again in my dream some time later, he instructed me to serve this temple.Since then, I decided to serve this temple as long as I could.

Sri Marathadavar Temple in Maran

A Grand Entrance Compared To What It Used To Be

Peacock Facing The Mulavar On The Outside Of The Temple

Huge Parking Area And Accommodation 

Small Raja Gopuram

Bell Tower

You Find These Merchants Daily

Temple Compounds

Kodi Maram and Pazhi Peedam

Mulavar

Temple Tree

Kodi Maram and Pazhi Peedam

Idumban Sannidhi

Naga Nathar Sannidhi

Maha Vishnu Sannidhi

Mariamman Sannidhi

Rear View Of The Temple

Vasantha Mandapam

Mayil Vahanam

Bairavar Sannidhi

Rooms Are Available These Days

We had to do a very early morning head start from Tanjung Malim and were able to reach here just in time for the Abishegam that starts at 10.00 am. After that, there is a small break while they do the Alangaram and then the noon Puja at 12.00 . Having completed that, four different kinds of Ponggal was served by the Ubayam doers. Now, this is not what I mainly wanted to spread via this blog but the next section that I am about to share.

Newly Constructed Dining Hall

Daily Free Annadhanam

Very Clean

Queue For The Annadhanam

Annadhanam Charity

On the far right of the temple, behind the Management Office, they have recently constructed a Dining Hall and there, they serve free lunch to the needy daily. This practice was even there before the construction of this new dining hall and then, it was done in another hall just beside this present structure. Yes, by right this is meant to be as a noble deed to serve all, including those who are well to do and in return, these well to do people could donate some money to this free Annadhanam as they have many people who come here that can't even afford a single meal and this money is used to feed those in need. But sadly, besides us, among the hundreds who had their lunch today, only one other person donated to this noble effort. That was very sad indeed. Every time I come here, I would always donate RM 50.00 per head and that money would be able to serve at least another 15 people but I wonder why the rest just don't see the good and donate where they should. After all, we seem to be spending unnecessarily in other places and why not for this. 

My Lunch

Food Was Good

Rice and Sambar

Pumpkin

Cabbage, Carrots and Potatoes

Appalam

Rasam

Us Having Our Lunch

Us Having Our Lunch

It is a self service concept and the place is so clean. Temples in Malaysia are hardly this clean these days and I was impressed to see the upkeep of this place. Similarly, once you're done with the food, throw away the paper leaf and cups and return the tray to where it belongs. Variety was good and the food was tasty too. There is no limitation as to how much one should take. My portions were small as I had already had a good meal with four different Ponggals in the temple. My humble request for all who visit this temple would be to kindly assist with donating at least something  for this Annadhanam charity as your money is used to feed at least one other hungry tummy. No, I am not affiliated with this temple or the Annadhanam collection management but solely a request from one human being to another. For the others who have not heard about this, please do pass the word around too.

Address: KM 100, Jalan Kuantan, Jerantut, 26500 Maran, Pahang.

Website: http://marathandavar.com/

Telephone: +6019 981 8050