About Sri Lakshmi Visa Ganapathi

Our History

In 1988, when the temple was constructed, it was called Sri Lakshmi Ganapathy temple. Only frequented by residents and neighbours at first, the temple started earning a quirky reputation with time. "Over the years, we observed that most visa applicants who came to the temple found positive results. So about nine years ago, we named this Pullaiyar — Visa Ganapathy," he recalls.

People from all over South India have found their way to the temple, and Jaganathan claims that print media has been instrumental in spreading word about it.

It’s common to see several small Pullaiyar temples on street corners in the city, as according to Hindu mythology, a Pullaiyar temple is a must at every tri-point junction of roads to prevent bad omens. Jaganathan, who was an early settler in urban Nanganallur, constructed his house in one such tri-point junction at Brindavan Nagar, Naganallur.

My father and I handpicked the Pullaiyar statue from a sculptor in Mahabalipuram," he explains, adding that an idol only a few feet in height had to grow in size to match its growth in popularity.When a local Nanganallur tabloid published a story on us, more people from the locality started showing up, and when a Tamil daily did the same thing.