History

The need for a place of worship for Hindus in Kangar was first mooted in

1965 by a group of devotees. These seven individuals who are the founders

of this temple were the late M.K Govindasamy, the late M. Ramasamy, the late

S. Sathasivam, the late P. Sababathi, the late V Govindasamy Naidu, the late

KG Rao and Sri M Alagumalai. The first meeting was held on 3rd June 1965 at

8 pm in the house of the late S. Sadasivam in Arau, Perlis. In this meeting, it

was decided to build a temple in Kangar, the state capital of Perlis since there

was no temple there. This was the first instance where the initiation of a

temple was first planned.

On 2nd. July 1965, the first general gathering of all Indians was held in the

Perlis Indian Association premises and Dr. R. Sivasambathan chaired the

meeting. A committee was formed for this noble project. However, Dr. R

Sivasambanthan was transferred to Penang shortly after the formation of the

committee and the late Mr. V.K Govindasamy Naidu was appointed as the

chairman of the committee to continue this project. The temple was

registered as Sri Subramaniaswamy Devasthanam.

At this juncture, Mr. S.P.L.P Palaniappa Chettiar donated a piece of land for

this project. Since the land was not suitable for the construction of a temple,

he decided to fully sponsor the Moolamoorthi – Sri ARUMUGASWAMY, Sri.

VALLI, Sri DHEVAYANAI, Mayil Vaghanam and the Pali Peedam from Tamil

Nadu, INDIA. He also gave a teak wood framed photo of Lord

THANDAYUTHABANI which was used by his ancestors in BURMA, which was

around 80 years old at that time.

The committee approached the Perlis state Menteri Besar, the late YAB Dato’

Sheikh Ahmad b. Mohd. Hashim for assistance and the present site where the

temple is located was given to the temple as it was a state land. Financial

assistance was also given by the Federal Government totaling RM 25,000.00.

All of this was made possible by the generous help which was given by the

late YAB Dato’ Sheikh Ahmad. This piece of mangrove swamp was cleared

and filled with rocks and earth from the nearby hill and river by the Kangar

and Arau Indians.

On 11th. July 1968, the foundation stone was laid down for the construction

of this temple by the late Tun V.T Sambanthan. Still, for the completion of the

temple there was insufficient fund. The Menteri Besar was once more

approached, who again arranged state fund of another RM 15,000.00.

Together with donations from all over the country, the dream temple had

become a reality.