In a lush green environment surrounded by towering trees, Velayutham Pillai's soul was harmoniously swaying to the lullabies of the jungle. He was in the midst of peaceful 'dhyanam' (meditation), when the abrupt squawk of a 'mayil' (peacock) pierced the tranquillity. It was indeed unusual to sight a peacock in the middle of the jungle as peacocks are not indigenous to Malaysia. The peacock was momentarily perched on a tree above Velayutham Pillai, before retreating into the dense jungle. Velayutham Pillai felt that this was a divine message from Lord Murugan. He pondered on what had transpired and thought that the massive tree where the peacock had perched must be sacred. And since he owned that tract of jungle land, his intuition led him to believe that Lord Murugan was guiding him to build a temple for spiritual worship. Hence, in the year 1965 he built a shrine for Lord Murugan below the enormous tree and donated an acre of land towards establishing a temple. In 1979, the Murugan shrine was renovated and a statue of Lord Murugan was sanctified at the main sanctum. In 1999 with the aid of the local residents, the 1st kumbabishekam was conducted. The 2nd kumbabishekam was conducted in 2024 very elaborately. The temple's existing devotees and their families had prospered, hence they contributed towards the development of the temple.
Many devotees experienced abnormal incidents near the sacred tree. A dedicated devotee had climbed up the tree to prune its branches and leaves. As the temple was located beneath the tree, the roof of the temple was always covered with fallen leaves, branches and twigs. All of a sudden he heard a thunderous voice warning him to get down the tree. Trembling with fear, he climbed down hurriedly. As soon as he got down, the branch where he was straddled upon fell down with a tremendous thud. Trembling with fear, he realised the roaring voice saved him from an instantaneous death. He nervously prayed at the temple begging for forgiveness if he had transgressed in any manner. The temple priest who had been told of the incident immediately requested the devotee to meet him. The temple priest assured him that Lord Murugan rescued him from an accidental death, after thoroughly analysing his astrological chart. His only remedy was to continue serving Lord Murugan.
When the temple was still its inception phase, the surrounding area of the temple was thriving with flora and fauna. A Chinese landlord who lived nearby was driving in an old rackety jeep, with the intention of hunting wild boar. Unexpectedly, a small boy ran past his jeep in a flash and ascended the fabled divine tree. The young boy looked princely and was attired in elegant garments, and did not look like he was native to the area. The Chinese landlord immediately hit the brakes and tried searching for the young boy. He was afraid that the young boy might have been lost in the jungle. Astonishingly, the boy vanished up in the divine tree and was nowhere to be found. The puzzled Chinese landlord narrated the incident to the devotees of the temple, hoping they would have been able to solve the mystery. They approached a wise old woman from the temple, who has been blessed with divine intuition. She mentioned it is Murugan amusing himself with mischievous banter.
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The divine tree that had signified the presence of Lord Murugan had fallen down after being struck by lightning. Many loyal devotees of the temple were disheartened by the tragic incident and decided to gather the remaining bark of the tree. These remnants of the divine tree had been left above a concrete cylinder to signify the humble beginnings of this powerful temple. Despite being destroyed, the bark of the divine tree is still a focal point of the temple. During Thaipoosam, 'kavadi' participants gather near the concrete cylinder first to obtain the cosmic blessings of Lord Murugan before commencing the 'kavadi' ritual. Furthermore, some staunch devotees customarily lay their palms on the tree's bark before starting their worship inside the temple. They believe the 'shakti' (divine energy) that vibrates from the bark will cleanse them of their mortal sins, and hence their soul will be rejuvenated.
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Once the temple was established, a snake mound naturally formed in the vicinity of this spiritual area. An immense white cobra snake was occasionally seen by devotees at the surroundings areas of the temple, its divine mission to guard the boundaries from undesirable ghoulish elements. Many people who had observed the mystical white cobra were bewildered by the sight. One such individual had inadvertently witnessed the resplendent white cobra after mistakenly entering the temple vicinity late at night. He was overwhelmed by the sight, and became worried about the incident. He soon became seriously ill after contracting chicken pox. He made a silent plea to the snake goddess, Nagamma to forgive his misdemeanour. He soon recovered, and went to the temple to seek forgiveness and offer his appreciation for swiftly recovering from the disease.
Another unrelated incident occurred on the 'manjal neer attam' (ritual cleansing bath with turmeric water) ceremony during the annual 'kovil thiruvila' (temple festival). A young man who always volunteered to assist with chores at the temple had disabilities, and could not speak nor hear. He was a proud Murugan 'bhaktar' (devotee) and did his utmost to help the temple. As the 'manjal neer attam' was being conducted adjacent to the temple, the temple was empty and peacefully silent. Suddenly the white cobra appeared in front of the young man, and blessed him with the silent swaying of its hood. The unperturbed young man was ecstatic and in gratitude offered the white cobra a bowl of milk. In a twinkling of an eye, the white cobra sipped the milk and then slithered away into darkness as dusk was soon approaching. The young man gazed upwards towards the heavenly skies, glanced towards the 'Krithigai' (Pleiades) star cluster, and expressed his gratitude to Lord Murugan for such an exuberant moment.
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