Sri Jalakanteshwara Temple / Jalakandeswarar Temple / ஜலகண்டேஸ்வரர் கோயில், IIT MADRAS, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

15^th April 2019.

This visit to the temples of IIT Madras happened on 15^th April 2019. Mr Sampath Kumar, Professor of the Metallurgy Department, personally came along with me to all the temples. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to cover the temples through the unknown routes of the Campus. I extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Mr Sampath Kumar for his excellent hospitality and for sparing his valuable time despite his busy schedule.

    

Moolavar    : Sri Jalakandeswarar

Consort      : Sri Devi Katyayani.

Some of the salient features of this temple are…

The temple faces east with an entrance on the east and west sides. On the east side entrances, Kalabairavar and Nagars are under a Peepal tree. The sanctum sanctorum consists of the sanctum, antarala and a muka mandapam. Palipedam and Rishabam are in front of the open mandapam. On the front mandapam top stucco images of Shiva’s family  (Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and Murugan). Ganapathy and Subramaniyar at the entrance of the sanctum. In koshtam Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma and Durgai. Chandikeswarar is in front of Brahma. Ambal Sri Katyayani is on the right side of the main sanctum facing south.

STHALA PURANA: As per the 1986 Kumbhabhishekam Souvenir released the text reads as… The story of the Lingam, summarised from the reading of the Kagabujandar Nadi, which was with the Raj Bhavan Authorities, is as follows.

“There was a Gandharva Kumaran by the name of Vanavilangan. While he was passing through the sky, he spotted a lovely lake with a swan on it. He attempted to capture and take the swan away, but as the swan was goddess “Kali” herself, she cursed Vanavilangan that he would become a stone. The Gandharva Kumaran accepted the punishment but prayed to the goddess for redemption. The Goddess relented and commanded him to build a temple and perform penance as a stone until he was redeemed by the touch of the holy feet of Thrikala Gnanis and saints. Comforted by this blessing of the Goddess, he built a temple where the Goddess rested and established a Shivalinga at the foot, which lay as a stone for ages, until he regained his original form. The Lingam was shifted as years passed, and once a King (Hunter) attained salvation by spotting it. Finally, a Brahmin Yogi with great efforts lifted the Lingam and installed it on the bank of the lake, where it was subsequently found in 1959. The adi describes the Shiva Lingam as a composite whole, fusing Lord Jalakanteshwara and Devi Katyayani as one cognate expression of universal peace, prosperity, and glory.”

HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE.

Before the establishment of IITM, the Shiva Linga was under a Mandapam with a thatched roof near the lake. Mahaperiyavaa, of Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt, clarified that this Shiva Linga is more than 500 years old and was worshipped by Sri Appaya Deekshidar (1520-1593 CE), who was an Advaita Vedanta scholar who composed the famous Margabandhu Stotram and Atmarpana stuti. Maha Periyava also asked to check the records of the Rajbhavan.

The authors of the original article had checked the records of Raj Bhavan. According to the information furnished by the Controller of the Raj Bhavan area in 1959, the precincts of the temple had formed the route from an ancient place of worship in Vedasreni (Present Velachery) to Thiruvanmiyur and had been frequented by great saints, including Appaya Deekshitar (1520 – 1593 CE). Kanchi Kamakoti Peetadhipathi Jagadguru Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamiji mentioned that the king performed the Shashtiabdapoorthi (60^th birthday) of Appaya Deekshitar in the temple where the Jalakanteshwara Lingam had been present.

The reconstruction of the temple was started in 1962 and completed in 1965 (Vesara-style vimana weighs around 300 kg). Kumbhabhishekam was performed on 18^th June 1965 in the presence of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetadhipathi Jagadguru Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamiji. Sringeri Sharada Peetadhipathi Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Swamiji visited on 7^th Nov 1965. Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar Bahadur, Maharaja of Mysore, Visited the 1965 Kumbhabhishekam. Mahaperiyava also visited on 20^th Feb 1966. Again, Kumbhabhishekam was performed in 1986.

REFERENCE:

The article was written by Arun Ayyar, Harish Ganapathy, and Hemanth C, alumni of the Indian Institute of Madras, in consultation with Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Controller of Raj Bhavan and Dr Nagaswamy. For the link to the article, Click Here.

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open from 06.00 hrs to 10.00 hrs, and from 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

 Mahaperiyaa also visited on 20^th Feb 1966. 

 Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Swamiji visited on 7^th Nov 1965.

 Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar Bahadur, Maharaja of Mysore

The 1965 Kumbhabhishekam
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---