Hari Sri Vasudeva Perumal Temple / ஹரி ஸ்ரீ வாசுதேவ பெருமாள் கோயில், Velachery, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

19^th August 2018

This Perumal with Sridevi and Bhoodevi is sitting under an asbestos sheet shed. This small shrine with Biruku Muni, Ramanujar, and Thumbikkai Alwar is on Telugu Brahmin Street. During the Chozha time, this place, Velachery, was one of the Chaturvedi Mangalam in Puliyur kottam of Jayangonda Chozha Mandalam. The legend of the Shiva temple, about 500 meters away from this place at Dhandeeswaram, is related to the story of chatur Vedas, i.e., 4 Vedas. Regarding Telugu Brahmins, before the bifurcation of the State of Tamil Nadu, based on the language, in Chennai,  most of the people’s language was Telugu, and Telugu Brahmins  might have lived in a separate street adjacent to Brahmin Street.

  

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

When I enquired about these more than 800 to 1000-year-old idols and the Shrine, the battar pointed out a small dilapidated temple built with stone up to the ceiling and brick vimana under the clutch of a peepal tree. It was said that these moorthams were unearthed in front of that dilapidated temple.  This temple is about 50 feet away from the existing  Shrine.  The sanctum sanctorum is visible only from half of the koshtams and adhistanam, and the part of the wall is under the earth due to the rise of the ground level. Perumal’s various forms are chiseled in the koshta makara thorana. Unwanted materials were dumped on the back side of the temple, leaving room for the snakes, and the front side was also encroached.

The sanctum wall has 10^th to 11th-century Chozha period inscriptions. The inscriptions are not legible. The temple construction might have started along with the Yoga Narasimha Perumal temple of Dhandeeswaram. When I inquired of the neighbors, they were not aware of the history, and there is also a belief that whoever tries to renovate this temple will die after some time, hence nobody comes forward.

Inscription pic courtesy Mr. Vaidhyanathan.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

Temple will be kept open from 08.00 hrs to 09.00 hr and from 18.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.

CONTACT DETAILS:

The mobile numbers of Vijayan 98402 54354 and Vijaya Raghava +919894533061 may be contacted for further details.

HOW TO REACH:

Dhandeeswaram is a part of Velachery, and the Telugu Brahmin street is near the Dhandeeswaram bus stop before the Vijayanagaram bus terminus.

All the town buses from Koyambedu and T. Nagar will stop at Dhandeeswaram.

LOCATION: GPS Coordination: 12.982743, 80.219752

 The brick vimana 

The brick vimana 

 Makara thorana reliefs 

 Makara thorana reliefs 

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---