Featured Temples: Lord Murugan’s Abodes of Reunion Island

Source: www.clicanoo.com
REUNION, January 20 2010: The Temple of Siva Soupramanien de Saint-Andre is located in the Petit Bazar neighborhood at 1360 Avenue Ile de France, in the very small island of Reunion, a French island of about 800,000 population located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 bkilometres (120 mi) southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island.

The temple opened on August 25, 1900 and was rededicated on July 6, 2003 after five years of rebuilding, restoration work and new construction by skilled Indian workers from Tamil Nadu. Shrines in the temple are for Ganesha, Muruga, Siva, Maha Kali and Mariamen.

The ten-day celebration of “Le Tai Poussam Cavadee” happens at the temples of Saint-Andre and Saint Louis on opposite sides of Reunion Island. The kavadi festival is celebrated each year by the Tamil community of Reunion, in honor of Muruga. Ten thousand people are attend on Thai Pusam day, January 29th, when morning grand abhishekam happen at 5am. On the tenth and final day, the kavadi procession will leave the temple around 6:30AM and return after 13 hours.