Not long ago, not all who passed through Gandhi Mandapam Road down Kotturpuram bridge might have noticed the modest Varasiddhi Vinayagar temple near the bridge. Now, however, the place of worship has become a centre of attraction ever since AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa started visiting it.
Even on Friday, around 2 p.m, when she was paying a visit to Governor K. Rosaiah, she stopped briefly opposite the temple and offered prayers while the priests performed deeparadhana in the sanctum sanctorum. “She has visited the temple thrice since 1996. But it became famous only after she came in 2012 and stopped by in October 2014 while she was returning home after getting bail,” says K. Selvaraj, who is part of the temple management committee.
He claims that Ms. Jayalalithaa must have come to know about the temple, which is over 50-years old, through an industrialist. “During special occasions, Ms. Jayalalithaa sends vastrams (cloths) for the deities and money for conducting poojas. Now locals have begun to refer to it as the ‘Amma’ temple. I guess all her prayers have been answered after praying at this temple, so she has a special attachment to it,” he adds.
G. Sabapathy, who has been the priest at the temple for the past two decades, is also elated. People now identify him with the temple ever since Ms. Jayalalithaa started visiting it. “Once she spoke to me when she visited the temple during her previous regime. She told me to inform her if the temple needs anything,” he claims.
