Temple History

The Temple was initiated by the late Arulthiru S. Baskaran Pillay and his wife the late Mrs. Kupu, the founders of the Temple. Late Arulthiru S. Baskaran Pillay was born in Kerala, India in 1924 and migrated to Malaya at the age of 17 by joining the British Army. Later he married the late Ms Kupu from Muar and settled down in Johor Bahru. At his childhood he attended Sanskrit School where he learned Spiritual knowledge and Traditional Healing.

It all started when the couple was not blessed with a child after years of marriage. One night, the late Mrs. Kupu had a dream. In it she heard a voice saying “IF YOU PRAY TO LORD MURUGAN, YOU WILL BE BLESSED WITH A BABY BOY”. (Late Arulthiru and Mrs Kupu and their ancestors were AanjenEyar Bakthers). Upon knowing the dream, late Arulthiru made a vow saying that they will pray to LORD MURUGAN till their last day if the dream comes true. Then they bought a small black and white photo of LORD BALA SUBRAMANIA and a zinc lamp at a cost of 20 sen and started to worship HIM (the photo and lamp is still used in daily worship by their children). True enough, the late Mrs. Kupu conceived the following month itself and delivered a baby boy. Both husband and wife were overjoyed and started to pray very devotedly to Lord MURUGAN. Their relatives and friends joined them in prayers and later the public started to visit Arulthiru to get help and guidance thru spiritual and traditional ways. These devoted and sincere services lead to the formation of a temple which is now known as ARULMIGU SENTHIL MURUGAN KOVIL. Several childless couples have been blessed with children and sick ones have been healed. There are hundreds of people from all over Malaysia and Singapore with lifetime vows to fulfill in the Temple and still come to perform without fail.

The Temple was originally located in Ngee Heng for nearly 40 years. In giving space to State development, in October 1997, the 40 year old temple in Lorong 2, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak (Jalan Ngee Heng) was relocated to a new site in Jalan Layang, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru. After waiting 10 years, the approval for the new building was received last year. The new temple’s construction is to start in 2009 with an estimated cost of RM1.5 to 2 million.