Uttara Swami Malai Temple

The Uttara Swami Malai Temple, popularly called Malai Mandir, or 'hill temple', crowns a low hill in R.K. Puram's Sector 7 above Vasant Vihar, some 2 km from the Vasant Vihar metro. Modelled on the Swamimalai temple near Kumbakonam, it is dedicated to Murugan as Swaminatha and is especially revered by Delhi's Tamil and South Indian communities. Its foundation stone was laid in 1965 in the presence of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, and the main temple was consecrated in 1973.

Built entirely of granite in a style recalling Chola temples, the main shrine carries a Tamil sign with Murugan's words 'Why fear when I am there?'. Shrines to Karpaga Vinayagar, Sundareswarar and Meenakshi, Murugan's brother and parents, were consecrated in 1990 in the Pandya style seen at Madurai's Meenakshi temple. As the peacock is Murugan's mount, the temple keeps one, a bird that may be seen and heard in the trees of the compound.