Lord muruga devotees
The requirement of the temple has direct contact with the earth was met by erecting concrete wells of similar height, filled with sand, that act as exclusive foundations as well as add strength to the structure. Sri CSK Raj, the architect, had the unique responsibility of designing the temple as per the mandates of Agama Shilpa Sastras, and at the same time consistent with the rules, regulations from the statutory municipal and government bodies. The Railways was kind enough to grant concessional freight rates for transporting the materials. Around 800 tons of granite (semi-finished temple structure) was ferried from Mahabalipuram to Bombay. The idols were sculpted by Thiru Kumaresa Stapathi (Presidential awardee and a former chief Instructor at the Sculpture Institute, Mahabalipuram), his assistant, Sri Ramakrishnan, and their team of fifty artisans from south India who worked tirelessly to complete the sanctum sanctorum in time for the first consecration ceremony. The utsav-murtsi made of panchaloha was made by expert craftsmen from Swamimalai (TN). The stone for the 4.5 ft tall idol of Lord Muruga was obtained from Mayilam in TN. Contribution in kind came from the Government of Maharashtra in the form of increased FSI the Government of India declared the temple as a place of public worship of renown throughout the State of Maharashtra. Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam contributed Rs.500,000/- and many individuals donated Rs.10,000/- or more. Several music concerts, dance and drama festivals were organized for raising funds. An ashtamangala prasnam done after consultations with Sri Anjam Madhavan Namboothiri also revealed that Chheda Nagar had in ancient times been the abode of Goddess Durga Devi. Bhagwad Saptahams conducted by Sri Anjam Madhavan Namboothiri was a rallying point for realizing the importance of building a separate sanctum for Lord Guruvayurappan and Goddess Durga Devi. Thus Drops became trickles and trickles turned into streams of donations from the cosmopolitan public of Mumbai and from different parts of the country and abroad. Sri Kripananda Variyar Swamigal during his regular discourses exhorted devotees to contrinute through small hundi boxes. Many volunteers also went from door to door for donations. It was but natural that funds had to be arranged, looking at the cost involved in the project of building a full-fledged temple. The sage bestowed his blessings and advised that the poojas and rituals for Lord Muruga, Lord Vinayaka and Goddess Durga could be performed as per the Agama Sastras (as in Tamil Nadu) and those for Lord Guruvaruppan and Lord Dharma Sastha as per the Tantra Sashtra (as in Kerala). The office-bearers presented themselves before the Paramacharya of Kanchipuram, His Holiness Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamiji, with the design and the model of the temple for his approval and blessings. These small beginnings defined the way the present monument was to come up. Regular Poojas and worship began with the devotees congregating at the limited space of the Balalayam. The consecration of the Balalayam on 5th February 1973 was graced by Sri Kripananda Variyar, the ardent devotee of Lord Muruga and a popular exponent of Skanda-purana and Swami Chinmayananda of Chinamaya Mission. As mandated by the agama sastras, this Samaj set up a Balalayam where the idols of Lord Muruga, Lord Vinayagar and Lord Dharma Sastha were installed. TV Ramanujam as the Chairman and Sarvashri K.K.Unni, V.Ramadorai, K.N.S.Sastri, N.S.Pursram and S.Venkiteswaran as members and P.S.Subramaniyan as Hon. A temple construction committee was constituted with Prof.