The founder of the magnificent Sri Puram Golden Lakshmi Temple, Sri Sakthi Amma born in 1976, as a 16 year old boy had a vision of Narayani while riding the school bus. The energy image of the Mother of the Universe emerged from the boy making itself visible in the sky and after some time the energy retracted into Amma’s body making it clear that he was an incarnation of Mother because the energy came out of him and went back into him. It was through this event that Amma declared his avatarhood as Sri Sakthi Amma and eventually started his mission work and the construction of the Golden Temple.

Across the street from the temple premises is a small temple for the self-created swayambu lingam. Sri Sakthi Amma predicted when the lingam would appear. On that particular day in 1992 the lingam manifested itself in an earth-shattering way coming out of the earth into existence.

Golden Lakshmi Temple or Sri Puram near Vellore

To my delight I found out that the Golden Temple at Vellore was a Shakti temple dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi Narayani. It was my first visit to a Shakti temple; I was looking forward to this energy field.

The taxi driver took us to Vellore. Before going inside the temple my friend and I went to a restaurant where they played a video of the temple and we could get a first glimpse. I for sure loved what I saw of the temple along with fire rituals or homas.

When we were ready to visit the temple, we paid a small fee for special darshan and deposit our cell phones which we were not allowed to take onto the premises. Our slippers we had left in the car. We went through the seva entrance and soon were on a path that led to a star-like path which surrounds the temple at its center. In front of us was eco-friendly landscaping in which midst were statues of varies goddesses life-size and taller.

‘Om Namo Narayani’ Chanting

Soon we entered the star path in the form of a six pointed star, two overlapping triangles indicating the energies of Shiva and Shakti. Walking the path we were able to read inspiring spiritual messages along the way in English. The big signs had the messages also written in Tamil and other Indian languages. In the points of the star were vendors selling water and puja items for offerings. Coming closer to the temple we heard lovely chanting of ‘Om Namo Narayani’ which we mentally repeated to tune more into Mother’s energy.

We came to a path that led us to the center of the star with a circular pathway around the temple in the middle of it. It was constructed like the bindu in Sri Vidya terms, which is the home in the form of the temple of the Mother Goddess. Here were two queues, one for general and one for special darshan. With the tickets we had we got to have special darshan so instead of a few seconds in front of Mother we sat down and spent a few minutes in her energy presence.

The Mother of the Universe – A Feast for the Eyes

In front of us was a black granite stone image artfully chiseled into the form of Mother Lakshmi. She was beautifully decorated with colorful silk sari and bedecked with jewelry. The Mother seated on a lotus held two lotuses in two of her four hands. The other two hands were in a blessing mudra or gesture and in a giving protective one.

Getting into a meditative mood I closed my eyes for a moment and felt warm energy permeating my body. I then opened my eyes knowing I would have only a few minutes darshan I looked at Mother again. Then suddenly a man briefly stepped out from the sanctum and looked around as if looking for someone. It looked as if it was Sri Sakthi Amma himself but I was not sure because of seeing him only a brief moment and he looked somewhat slimmer than Amma who I had seen in a photograph online.

Traditional Bathing of Golden Lakshmi

When darshan was over a priest gave us a beautiful lotus blossom and goody bags which contained a picture of Lakshmi along with prasadam and other puja items. As we went back to the star path we came upon another building that housed a 1.5 foot solid gold 70 kg Swarna Lakshmi we could perform abishekam bath to. Men took off their shirts here for the bathing of this form of Mother. Mother was seated in a hall with huge 3D murals on the wall of Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Durga. Abishekam was wonderful. We were sent out the hall with a bag that contained a photograph of Swarna Lakshmi and other goodies.

Continuing the star path we found a good spot for meditation and then walked on towards a hall where food was given out. A few shops sold books, CDs, saris, and other temple items. At the end of the path we collected our cell phones and left the premises. Shortly thereafter we drove back home. NarayaniPeedam.org / SriPuram.org

• Temple: Sri Puram Golden Lakshmi Narayani Temple
• Location: Tirumalaikodi near Vellore, Tamil Nadu
• Directions: From Tiruvannamalai drive 2 hrs north on Highway 38, south of Vellore turn west to Tirumalaikodi, follow signs
• Entrance Fee: RS 200
• Special: Milk Abishekam Bathing of Golden Lakshmi
• Access: Anyone is welcome
• Photography: Not allowed
• Others: Cell phones and shoes are deposited for a small fee before entering the temple premises
• Spiritual Takeaway: Chanting along the way prepares for darshan, seeing of the Goddess. It wonderfully focuses and calms the mind, and eliminates unnecessary outer and inner chatter.

In the comments below share your experience visiting this temple. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Ma Udaysree has lived in South India for six years and is the organizer of Sacred Temple Journeys. She now offers small group spiritual temple journeys to Tiruvannamalai, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Bidadi, and other places in South India. Udaysree is the author of ‘Living at Arunachala.’