Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple, Puducherry, Pondicherry India

 Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple was in existence before the French came and settled in Pondicherry i.e. before 1666. According to Sasthra, Lord Ganesha is named in 16 types based on his various forms out which this god facing the east cost near Bay of Bengal it has been named as Bhuvaneshar Ganapathy, now called as Manakula Vinayagar. In Tamil 'Manal' means sand and 'Kulam' means pond near the sea, earlierly which was full of sand around pond. So the people called the god as Manal Kulathu Vinayagar. Later it is named as Manakula vinayagar. The Jesuits and missionaries tried to demolish Manakula Vinayagar, but they could not demolish the temple. During 1700 French prohibited performing poojas and festivals particularly on Fridays in the temple. All the Hindus who were worshipping Lord Vinayaga objected and migrated to Moratandi English Territory. 

Long ago when the Union Territory of India, Pondicherry (Now Puducherry) was ruled by the Europeans, an atheist lived in this territory. The atheist a bosom friend of the governor of the state. The lineage of the governor, whether he was French, Dutch, Portugese or English is not known. The atheist was a despot and all the natives were ill-treated by him. The governor never paid any heed to the natives’ pleas and never bothered to question the atheist. As no one ever questioned the atheist, he started ill-treating people and poking his  nose in the religious activities.

He often saw people going to the temple at the seashore. Agitated and frustrated by people not listening to him and praying to someone who is not in front of their eyes, he decided to demolish and throw the Pillayar (Ganesha in Tamil) idol placed in the temple, into the river.

Soon ,he decided to visit the temple. He saw people prostrating themselves to the deity, lighting camphors and incense sticks; and offering prayers.  Others were singing verses for the deity. He was curious to find out who the devotees were offering their prayers to.

The idol had a big long oval face, a proboscis in the place of nose and a potbelly of pitch black color. The atheist asked the devotees what the name given to the half elephant and half glutton figure was? The devotees replied that they call it by many names, but the most popular is Pillayar (Ganesha). The atheist started laughing, much to the astonishment of the devotees. He ordered his army to go and throw the idol into the sea. The men, loyal to their master, obeyed  the orders immediately. Natives were shocked and  agitated but helpless.  Some were teary-eyed, but the fear of death was restraining them all. The atheist’s men lifted the idol with great difficulty. They loaded it into a boat from the seashore and threw it into the sea. They came back to the shore and told their master that they all completed the task which was assigned to them.

A few days later, the atheists and his men, visited the temple again.  Upon entering the temple, the atheist was taken aback to see the idol back!  The natives told him that when he took the idol, they all were praying with their eyes closed, and when they opened them,  the idol was back at the same place. The atheist ordered his men to tie the idol with a heavier stone and then throw it again. His men obeyed him, but when they came back again they saw the deity at the same place.

This made the atheist more adamant and obstinate, and he wanted to try one final time. As he turned around to order his men, he saw the natives smiling at him. He asked the natives to vacate the temple. He again ordered his men to lift the idol and take it to the sea.  However, once again, the idol was back in the same place after a while. Now, he ordered his men to bring sticks and crowbars to tamper the idol. However, much to the amazement of everyone present, the idol did not bear a single scratch on itself. A splinter that broke from one of the crowbars came and hit the atheist at his knee-cap. Crying in pain, the atheist fell on the floor before the deity. Later, it was reported to the governor that the atheist had started visiting the temple twice in a day. Such is the power of Lord Pillayar.