Thiruppugazh meaning glory to the god or divine glory is a 15th century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Lord Muruga, and written by the poet saint Arunagirinathar.

The story of Arunagirinathar itself is inspiring. Given to worldly pleasures in his youth, the saint was dissatisfied with his mundane existence and suffering. He decided to end his life by jumping off the temple tower at Thiruvannamalai where he was born. He was saved by a stranger who according to legend was Lord Muruga himself.

Blessed by the lord, the saint rendered his first 'thiruppugazh', 'MuthaiThiru' and then began a pilgrimage visiting the 6 holy shrines of Lord Subrahmanya, namely Thiruppurakundram, Thiruchendur, Palani, Swamimalai, Thirutanni and Pazhamudircholai, He also visited other holy shrines, including Kadirkamam in Srilanka. At each of these places, he composed songs and sang in praise of Lord Muruga and the compilation of these songs became the Thiruppugazh.

Many stalwarts such as Sri Sachidananda Swamigal, Sri Kripananda Variar and Pithukuli Murugadas have sung the glory of the Lord through the medium of Thiruppugazh. In London, we follow Guruji Shri A.S.Raghavan's style for singing Thiruppugazh. Guruji has founded the organization called 'Thiruppugazh Anbargal' which under his able leadership has spread to different parts of the world. Guruji has set almost 500 songs to music, in different ragam and talam.

Thiruppugazh Anbargal have a formal method for conducting the Bhajans. The start is with an invocation song to Lord Ganesha, then an obeisance is sung to the Guru, which is followed by songs of the Arupadai veedu .It is continued with Kandhar Anuboothi and hymns in praise of Vel, Mayil and Seval, and finally concluded with 'Haarathi' and the 'Eru Mayil' number.

Thiruppugazh classes are conducted in London in Harrow/Wembley area as well as in New Malden. Those interested can contact Mrs. Lalitha Padmanabhan (Tel no 020 8930 4131) or Mrs Jayanti Sundar (Tel no 020 8949 5755) respectively.