Lord Skanda-Murugan
 

2001 Mahakumbhabhishekam of the Uttara Swami Malai Temple, New Delhi

Malai Mandir banner
Kanchi Sankaracharyas

Uttara Swaminatha Swami, Malai Mandir
Malai Mandir Yagasalai

Uttara Swaminatha Swami Kovil (Malai Mandir): two views.

By the grace of God and the munificence of countless devotees and benevolent institutions, a magnificent temple of Śrī Swaminatha Swami, built in the traditional Chola style of temple architecture; situated on top of a 90 feet high hillock in southwest Delhi, overlooking Ramakrishnapuram and Vasant Vihar, was completed and consecrated in June 1973. This temple, built at a cost of Rs. 14 lakhs, is popularly known as Uttara Swami Malai Mandir. This marked the completion of Phase-I of the Uttara Swami Malai Complex.

The Uttara Swami Malai Temple has several unique features, one of which is the only temple with Brahmasthana Pratishta. Deities delineated in human form are not normally housed in the Brahmasthana or the very centre of Garbha Griha Sree Swaminatha Swami is an exception. The shrine has become famous as Sahasrara Kshetra and been sung by hymnists and poets as the Seventh Padai Veedu: the other six important shrines of Lord Subrahmanya at Pazhani, Pazhamudircholai, Swamimalai, Tiruchendur, Tirupparankunram and Tiruttani represent the six centres (chakras) - Anahata, Visuddhi, Manipuraka, Mooladhara, Swadishtana and Agya. The Sahasrara Kshetra was missing all these centres and Uttara Swami Malai had filled this void.

With the blessings of Sree Swaminatha Swami and the guidance of His Holiness Śrī Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamiji, the Paramacharya, His Holiness Śrī Jayendra Saraswati Swamiji and His Holiness Śrī Sankara Vijayendra Saraswati Swamiji, the Sankaracharyas of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, the construction of the Śrī Karpaka Vinayakar, Sree Sundareswarar and Devi Meenakshi Temple was completed at a cost of Rs. 25 lakhs, at the top of the hillock, on which Śrī Swaminatha Swami temple is situated and consecrated on the 13th June 1990. The Punarudhdharana Kumbhabhishekam of Sree Swaminatha Swami was also performed on the same date. This marked the completion of Phase-II of the "Uttara Swami Malai Complex".

The Sree Karpaka Vinayakar temple has Gajaprishta Vimanam. The Sree Sundareswarar and Devi Meenakshi Temples are built in the Pallava and Pandya style of the great Madurai temples, respectively. The Granite panels, depicting the wedding of Devi Meenakshi to Sree Sundareswarar, on the same pattern as at Madurai and the wedding of Valli to Sree Muruga adorn this complex.

Yet another milestone was crossed when the massive and spacious Adi Sankara Hall situated midway between the toot hills and the high hillock and built at a cost of Rs. 65 lakhs was completed and consecrated on the 9th November 1997 by Śrī Jayendra Saraswati Swamiji, Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. This marked the completion of Phase-III of the "Uttara Swami Malai Complex".

As per agama sastras, after necessary repairs and renovations, including the repainting o1 the vimanams (top spires) and appurtenant structures, a Punarudhdharana Ashtabandhana Mahakumbhabhis