22nd December
2019,
After Kayarampakkam Sri
Thiruvaheeswarar Temple’s visit, on the way to my residence visited this
temple, which is on the west side of the Velachery to Tambaram main road at
Pallikaranai. During my previous visit, some of the sannadhis are not added.
Moolavar : Sri
Adhipureeswarar
Consort :
Sri Sri Shantha Nayagi
Some of the important
features of this temple are...
The temple is facing east
with a three-tier Rajagopuram. The temple tank is on the east side of Velachery
to Tambaram main road which was renovated with steps recently, with a walking
track on the bund. Balipeedam, Dwajasthambam, and Nandhi are after the
Rajagopuram. Moolavar is swayambhu. In koshtam, Vinayagar, Dakshinamurthy,
Mahavishnu, Brahma and Durgai.
Ambal is in a separate sannadhi in artha mandapam. Ambal
sanctum has the koshtas of Mahalakshmi,
Saraswati, and Kamakshi.
In the paraharam Siva Anjaneyar, Maha Ganapathy ( Vinayagar and
Anjaneyar are facing each other, Valli DevaSena Arumugar, Saba mandapam with
procession deities, Navagrahas ( Adhipureeswarar is at the center), Chandikeswarar, Vinayagar, Brahmi, Maheswari, Varahi, Raghu & Kethu, Swarna akarshana Bhairavar, Sarabeswarar,
Vyaghrapada, Navagrahas and Pathanchali. Nagars are under the sthala
vruksham. The other Vrukshas inside the temple are Shenbagam, Rudraksha,
Vellerukku, Kondrai, Peepaul, Iluppai, Vengai, Bamboo, Parai, Arali,
Parijatham, Vanni, Neem, Mullai and Mahizhamaram.
In Adhisthana kandam inch sculptures of Kannappar Purana, Peacock
worshiping Lord Shiva, Spider, Snake, and Elephants worship lord Shiva.
ARCHITECTURE.
Originally a brick temple was built on a granite stone adhisthana.
The sanctum sanctorum consists of sanctum, antarala, and artha mandapam. The adhisthana is a Padabandha adhisthana
with tripatta Kumuda. Inch sculptures
are in the kandam. The mandapam and Rajagopuram are built in recent years
with concrete. The sculpture depicting Solar eclipse, Lunar eclipse, and Fishes
are on the ceiling of Arthamandpam.
HISTORY AND
INSCRIPTIONS:
It is claimed that the temple is more than 700 years old. 1525 CE,
Krishnadevaraya period inscriptions and 3 more later period inscriptions are found on the adhistanam and walls. The
place was called as Jayangonda Chozhamandalathu Puliyur Kottathu Surathoor
Nattu Pallia kaaranai and Lord Shiva was called as Adheeswaramudaiyar. The inscription also mentions the name Parvatheeswaramudiayar,
we may take that this temple is also called by this name.
The Krishnadevaraya’s period ( 1525 CE ) Tamil inscription mixed
with grantha records, the equal sharing of the Tax income from the houses ( 1.25
panam for a month ) with periphery markings as south of Pashathanagar koil, north of sulakkal, east of Veerathal
koil to be given to Parvatheeswaramudayar and Veerathal ( Kaliamman ) for
maintenance. The inscription also mentions a two thari ( தறி ) for Thirupana Perumal.
The other inscriptions mention the thirupani / maintenance of Sevatha Pandithar’s son Devan Pandithar,
Saththanathan, Madhava Pandithar Narasaiyan, Sevaka Perumal, Thambar, Siva
Brahmin’s son Thigamalar Udaiyan and Ponnambalanatha Pandian.
This Brick temple was found in dilapidated condition due to lack of maintenance and patronage.
With the effort of Local people and Shanthanayagi Trust, reconstruction was
started in 1984 and maha Kumbhabhishekam was conducted on 22nd
August 1999. The Rajagopuram work was also started in 2011 and Completed in
2013. The temple is under the control of the HR & CE Department.
An inch sculpture - Peacock worshiping Lord Shiva
An Inch sculpture of a snake worshiping Lord Shiva
Inch sculpture - Markandeya Purana
A 1999 CE old picture of the temple
LEGENDS
It was believed that those who could not go to Kalahasti could perform parihara pooja at this temple also. One of the speciality in this temple is the sun’s rays used to fall on Moolavar from the 15th to 30th of Masi month, every year. Munivars Vyaghrapada and Pathanchali worshiped Lord Shiva of this temple.
Lord Shiva gave life to all living things after the pralaya, which are merged with him ( palli – merge ). Hence Lord Shiva is called Karunamurthy and this place is called Pallikaranai. ( Krunai- mercy - which turned to Karanai ).
THE TEMPLE TIMINGS:
The temple is kept open
between 06.30 Hrs to 11.00 Hrs and 17.00 Hrs to 20.30 Hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS:
The mobile numbers are
9840109495, 9444326057, and 9884235555.
HOW TO REACH :
The temple is on the
Velachery to Tambaram main road at Pallikaranai.
Pallikaranai is 11 km from
Tambaram, 4 km from Velachery MRTS Railway Station, and 25 km from MGR Central
Railway Station.
The Nearest Railway station is
Tambaram and the next is Chennai Central Station.
Brahmi, Maheswari and Varahi
Natarajar saba
Vinayagar Sannidhi
Nagars
Navagrahas
Sri Valli Devasena Subramaniyar Sannadhi
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---
Where can i see the Inscriptions. I am a pallikaranai and regular visitor to the temple. Please help with Images.
ReplyDeleteYou can see on the base on the back side and south side too..
DeleteSure.Thank you. Let me check and let you know.
DeleteI was able to see the inscriptions as per your inputs. luckily they have not been painted over it. But also, its faded to certain extent. Hope they documented it. I was excited to see it for first time, even though i visit the temple regularly.
ReplyDeleteThanks and all the best to you Sivaramakrishnan SK
Delete