Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam அருள்மிகு ராஜமாரியம்மன் தேவஸ்தானம் — Attraction in Johor

The Arulmigu Rajamariamman Temple was founded by Mr Kootha Perumal Vandayar who wanted a place to worship for the Hindus of Johor Bahru. As a community leader he approached the Sultan for a piece of land to build a Hindu Temple. His Royal Highness Sultan of Johor, Sir Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Abu Bakar gave an acre of land and RM500 to the founder on 22 Mac 1911 to build a temple at Jalan Ungku Puan, Johor Bahru. In honour of His Royal Highness generous donation, the word “ RAJA” was added to the temple’s name, as the temple originally known as Mariamman Temple.

The first Perum Santhi Vizha took place on 8.12.1911 and from then onwards the temple started to grow. The second Perum Santhi Vizha took place in the year 1935 after some changes were done to the temple.

In 1949, the temple was registered under the Society Ordinance as ‘Rajamariamman Kovil’. Between 1950-56, the temple was managed by by two committees, one for temple affairs and the other for Hindu religious affairs. The two committees were amalgamated into a Single Rajamariamman Temple Committee in 1956. During the same period, Iyer was appointed replacing pandarams to perform pooja and weddings. A brick wall surrounding the temple was also built in the same year.

Since the temple had no major renovation for the last 51 years. At the end of 1977 the Temple Management committee under the leadership of President, Mr. A.Thambyayah PIS,PLP a historic decision to rebuild the temple was made. At its Annual General Meeting in 1979 a resolation was passed to appoint a committee under Mr.J.Kanapathy PIS,PPN and fourteen others for the rebuilding of the temple. It took 6 years to rebuild the temple. At the new temple the management Committee decided to have additional deites such as Sri Vairavan, Rajagopuram and Kodimaram ( Flag staff)

In 1985 temple’s name was changed to “ Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam”

The 3rd Mahakumbabishegam was carried out on 30 April 1986. One 20 July 1986 the first “ Adipuram Festival” commenced and was celebrated over ten days’.

The 4th Kumbabishegam was performed on 11 June 1993.

The 5th Mahakumbabishegam was performed on 24 January 1999.

Centenary Celebration

The PIRATHISHTAA 6th Maha Kumbabishegam ( Perum Saanthi Vizha) together with KANAGABISHEGA grand Centenary (100 years) celebration has been fixed on 12th June 2011 under the presidency of Mr.Kiruppalani and his...

Visited in March as part of my walking tour of the city. Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam is a typical South Indian Hindu temple smack bang in the centre of Johor Bahru.

As South Indian temples go, this is fairly typical. There’s a large and colourful gopuram roof at the entrance. In all honesty, if you’ve seen South Indian style temples before, this is no different. The one thing that was different was being asked to wash my feet upon entering the temple in addition to taking my shoes off.

An interesting and nice feature of the temple are the relief sculptures around the inside of the temple that also include explanatory notes about what’s being depicted. Other sculptures of Hindu deities have their name printed below, which is a great way to identify the characters. So an extra...

We visited the temple while exploring the area i.e we were totally uninformed and embarrassingly clueless about the temple. despite our painfully dense behaviour, the security officer still communicated to us patiently—telling us that the temple itself was closed for renovation, about the clothing restrictions and where to find the temporary temple.

from then on we were also guided to see the Indian Heritage Museum and the Herb Garden which had a pretty wide variety of herbs. too bad the heat had us tap-dancing through the whole thing. a damn shame considering all the spices and herbs they had on display there.

the staff were super friendly and helpful despite our language barrier and we couldn’t thank them enough for their patience...