Roots & Heritage

A promise carried across generations

My father, Mr. Palusamy Chettiar, faced poverty and heavy debts when he was young. During that difficult time, he went to bathe at the village pond, kanmai. There he found the deity of Lord Vinayaga, which had been dropped there by someone from the nearby village of Uruvaatti.

He took the discovery as a good omen, shared his troubles with the deity and prayed for relief. As part of that personal act of faith, he promised to build a temple in the same village if his circumstances improved.

In the 1950s, at the age of sixteen, he moved to Malaya to seek a better life. He began as a simple worker in Penang, later starting a business trading second-hand wood. He then moved into scrap metal before relocating to Bagan Luar, Butterworth, in 1978 to establish an automobile spare-parts business.

In 1986, he returned to Melamarungur and built Sri Selva Vinayagar Temple in fulfilment of the promise he had made. The temple stands as a quiet reminder of his faith, perseverance and connection to home.

Returning to a place that shaped us

I returned to the temple in 2019, after many years away. Seeing it unattended, with bushes growing around it, was painful. The villagers spoke with me about the need for renovation, and after several discussions I became involved in supporting the work.

My family, the villagers, friends and relatives supported the effort in different ways. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this place and to continue the legacy my father left behind.