Highgate Hill Murugan Temple, London: opening times, pooja times, services and history

When is Highgate Hill Murugan Temple open, and what can you book there? The temple at 200A Archway Road, London N6 5BA, is open seven days a week, from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and again from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Its official site gives pooja times as 8:00 am to 11:30 and 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and says hours are extended on festival and special days (checked 18 Oct 2026). You can ask for an archana at any visit. Abisekams (ritual bathing of a deity) are booked in advance through the temple office on 020 8348 9835. The site is short on visitor rules, so this guide also says plainly what it doesn't tell you.

Opening and pooja times

	Morning	Evening
Temple open	8:00 am to 2:00 pm	5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Pooja	8:00 am to 11:30 (see note)	5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Source: highgatehillmurugan.org home page, checked 18 Oct 2026. The site prints the morning pooja end time as "11.30pm". That cannot be right for a temple that closes at 2:00 pm, and almost certainly means 11:30 am, but we have not been able to confirm it. Ring the office if you are timing a visit to a pooja.

The site also says the temple keeps extended timings on festival and special auspicious days. It does not publish those timings on the pages we read.

What the temple offers

The services page lists these, all on request:

• Archana: the priest recites the deity's names to invoke blessings for you, for one deity or several.
• Abisekam / upayam: ritual bathing of a deity with substances such as milk, yoghurt and honey. Book the date and time with the temple office. The listed options include abisekam with homam, 108 Shangu Abisekam and 1008 Shangu Abisekam. The temple can supply the items, or you can bring them yourself. Ask the office for the list.
• Other services: sandalwood kappu, Swarna Pushpa Archanai with gold flowers, garlands and vastrams for the deities, Aathma Shanti Abisekam, and thuvasam (death anniversary rites) held at the temple.
• Hall hire: two halls on different floors, mainly for weddings. Only pure vegetarian food is permitted at these events.

Some notices on the services page look out of date. It marks the library, annadhanam (free meals) and outside priest services as temporarily unavailable, with references to Covid. Yet the home page says the temple provides home-visit priest services for poojas at home. Treat both as unconfirmed and ask the office what is available now.

If you are planning a home puja and the temple cannot send a priest, ProperPandit arranges pandits over WhatsApp through divine booking. Ask there what can be arranged in your part of the UK. Online live puja is coming soon.

What the site doesn't say

The official pages we read do not publish a dress code, photography rules, parking information or the nearest Underground station. The home page only says the temple sits on the A1 in Highgate and is easy to reach by tube or bus. So for those points, here is general guidance rather than temple rules:

• Shoes come off before you enter. Himalayan Academy's guide to visiting Hindu temples says socks are usually fine, especially in cold weather.
• Dress modestly, in something you can sit on the floor in. That's the general advice in the same guide.
• Ask before taking photos of the shrines. Many temples don't allow it, and this one publishes no rule either way.
• Check parking yourself. Archway Road is a busy main road. Look at local parking signs or come by public transport.

If any of these matter to you, call the temple before you go. Our temple dress codes by temple guide shows how much rules vary from one temple to the next.

How a visit usually goes at a South Indian Saiva temple

The temple's history page says its founding association set out to foster Saiva Siddhanta worship. Himalayan Academy, which publishes Hinduism Today, has a guide to temple protocol written from that same Saiva background. In short:

1. Greet the deities shrine by shrine, starting with Ganesha, with palms pressed together.
2. During the pooja, stand or sit quietly and follow along.
3. When the priest brings the lamp after the pooja, pass both hands over the flame and touch your eyes.
4. Accept holy ash (vibhuti) in your right hand. The guide describes moving it to the left palm and applying it to the forehead with the right hand.
5. Take prasadam, flowers and anything else offered with your right hand, or with both hands.
6. For an archana, the guide says you pay a small fee and give an offering basket. The priest recites your name, family lineage and birth star.

Families from different regions do these things a little differently. Watch what regular devotees do and follow the priest.

What first-timers don't expect

• The afternoon gap. Between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm the temple is closed. Weekend visitors arriving after lunch often hit it.
• Abisekams are booked, not walk-in. Archana you can ask for on the day; for abisekam, phone the office first.
• Some web pages lag behind. As noted above, a few service notices still mention Covid. The phone line is the reliable source.
• It has another name. The site's own page title calls it Archway Temple, so you may see both names in maps and listings.

The chariot festival

People search for the Highgate Hill chariot festival, but the temple's website does not describe it or give dates. The most detailed public account we found is a 2008 post by the then local MP, Lynne Featherstone. She described a procession along Archway Road and nearby streets, with a deity carried on a small shrine, marking the end of a two-week festival. That is an old, second-hand description. For current arrangements, contact the temple. We don't give festival dates here. ProperPandit's panchang shows the daily tithi and sunrise for your city.

A short history

The temple's history page traces it to the Hindu Association of Great Britain, inaugurated in London on 23 October 1966 to promote Saiva Siddhanta worship. Its founder, the late S. Sabapathipillai, led the work. A Thiruchendur Murugan vigraham made in India was installed with special rites in October 1973. The Brittania Hindu (Shiva) Temple Trust was created on 17 August 1974 and registered as a charity. In 1977 the trust bought the freehold at 200A Archway Road.

The premises opened on 2 December 1979, with more than 700 people attending, and a final prana prathista followed on 28 May 1982. The two official accounts differ on the consecration (Maha Kumbabhishegam). The history page dates it to 9 to 13 July 1986, followed by 45 days of mandala abishegams, while the home page says June 1986. Hinduism Today's 2015 timeline also gives June 1986.

The home page also records that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited on 6 June 2002 and spent about 45 minutes there. The temple describes itself as the first Hindu temple a British monarch had visited. The trust's charity number is 269067, and the temple says it was entered in the Places of Worship Register in 2020.

If you meant East Ham: London Sri Murugan Temple

Searches for "Murugan temple London" often mean a different temple: the London Sri Murugan Temple at 78-90 Church Road, Manor Park, London E12 6AF. Its own website says:

• Opening hours: 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and to 1:30 pm on Tuesday and Friday. At weekends and on bank holidays it opens 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Every evening it opens 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, with timings varying on festival days.
• Pooja times: 9:00 am, 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm.
• Abishegam: at 11:00 am and 6:00 pm, bookable online or through the office.
• Parking: a free car park with limited spaces, entered from Browning Road. The temple warns of an £85 ticket for parking in the wrong place, after closing time, or entering by the exit gate.
• History: established on the current site in February 1984; the new granite temple opened in May 2005.

That site also asks visitors to follow the dress code inside the temple, without spelling it out on the home page. Check timings for both temples on the day (checked 18 Oct 2026).

Questions people ask

What are Highgate Murugan temple opening times? Every day, 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, with extended hours on festival and special days (checked 18 Oct 2026).

What are the pooja timings at Highgate Murugan temple? The site lists 8:00 am to 11:30 (printed as pm, most likely a typo for am) and 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

How do I book an abisekam at Highgate Hill? Contact the temple office by phone on 020 8348 9835 or by email to arrange the date and time. The temple can supply the items on request.

When is the Highgate Murugan temple chariot festival? The official site doesn't publish it. Ask the temple directly.

Is there a car park at the Murugan temple in East Ham? Yes. London Sri Murugan Temple has a free, limited car park entered from Browning Road.