Charming temple by the banks of the Adyar — the Aathu Muniswaran story

Last weekend I had to travel the course of the Adyar. And I could not have selected a better day for it — the Chembarambakkam surplus water was emptied into the river and for once I saw it up close as a living waterbody.

All along its stretch the water rushed, now spinning into eddies, now roaring past various colonies and here and there taking with it some trees and logs of wood. Having marvelled at how the river was transformed at Ferry Road, Kotturpuram, which incidentally, is becoming a favourite haunt of mine no matter how filthy the banks, I followed the river via Defence Colony to Nandambakkam.

We drove past the flooded War Memorial and eventually reached the banks of the river, to be greeted by a Burma Colony and a giant Muniswarar statue just by the water. This is the Aathu (river) Muniswarar Temple. The main Goddess here is Angala Parameswari about whose worship I have written earlier in The Hindu (February 20, 2015) but it is Muniswaran who dominates by way of a clay idol much painted over, and which is at least two storeys in height.

You can make out the statue quite some distance away from the temple. Muniswaran is an interesting deity — His worship began in animist times, usually under trees. Bracketed with village guardian deities, this God travelled with migrant communities, and you can find plenty of Muniswaran temples, invariably small ones, all across Chennai.

The exception is of course Bodyguard Muniswaran in Pallavan Salai. That prefix came because the temple was located in Bodyguard Lines where the Governor’s bodyguard was stationed in colonial times. But now the name is interpreted to mean the deity protects us from accidents and so the temple is ever in expansion mode.

Cult travelled abroad

The cult travelled abroad as well, with migrants establishing temples for Muniswaran in Burma, Malaya, Singapore and Ceylon. The labourers were the ones who formed the bulk of Muniswaran’s core devotees. And when they moved back to India, they returned with Muniswaran – by way of bringing soil from the land which they had considered their home, albeit temporarily.

Muniswaran was transplanted to India by incorporating the soil brought from abroad in the clay used to make a fresh idol here.

We are all familiar with the flight of Indians from Burma during WW-II but not so well recorded is a second wave of refugees who came in 1962, following Ne Win becoming the military dictator of that country.

This lot of migrants were settled in and around Madras and Tiruchi, which accounts for multiple Burma colonies in Tamil Nadu. The Burma Bazaars in First Line Beach in Chennai and around the Teppakulam in the Rock Fort area of Trichy also date from this time.

Over a period of time, many of the original settlers moved elsewhere but the name Burma Colony remains.

The Aathu Muniswaran story is no different. The Burma Colony in Nandambakkam came up in the 1960s and the Muniswaran was put up shortly thereafter. It is not clear if the Angala Parameswari sanctum predates the Muniswaran or whether the two were coeval. What is remarkable is the setting, which could be a rural scene.

The houses have their rears opening on to the river and the streets end at a common space where the temple stands. The river flows by the side of Muniswaran and we are pointed out flood markings on the idol itself. On the day I went, the water was level with the temple, but the devotees were certain of Muniswaran’s protection.

(V. Sriram is a writer and historian.)

Published - December 17, 2024 10:56 pm IST