The
visit to this Sri Ambalavaneswarar Temple at Ambattur was a part of the “Lesser
Known Vishnu, Shiva, Amman Temples of Chennai visit” on 23rd
October 2022. Most of the temples were reconstructed in recent years, and
some retain their original structure. All these temples have a long history dating back to the Pallava, Chola, and Vijayanagara periods.
Moolavar : Sri Ambalavaneswarar
Consort : Sri Sivakami
Some
of the salient features of this temple are….
The
temple faces east with an entrance from the south side. The passage to the
temple is very narrow. The temple tank is on the east side of the Temple, and
now it has become a sewage pond. Shiva
and Parvati’s stucco image is on the south side entrance arch. The entrance
arch is covered with a dome-type meta colour sheet. A balipeedam and a Rishabam
are in front of the sanctum sanctorum. Vinayagar
and Murugan are on both sides of the sanctum sanctorum. Moolavar in the sanctum
looks majestic. Balipeedam, Dwajasthambam, and Rishabam are in the mandapam. In kostam
Vinayaagar, Dakshinamurthy, and Durga.
In the praharam, Ayyappan, Vinayagar, Chandikeswarar, Natarajar, Ambal Sivakami (Ambal
is in a standing posture with abhaya varada hastam), Nagars, Navagrahas, Nalvar,
A Brahama like idol, and Rishabam.
ARCHITECTURE
The
temple consists of the sanctum sanctorum, the ardha mandapam, and the mukha mandapam. The
sanctum sanctorum is on a simple adhistanam, and the adhistanam is not visible since the ground level was raised. An eka
tala vesara vimanam is over the sanctum sanctorum.
HISTORY AND
INSCRIPTIONS
The
original temple is believed to be more than 1000 years old. Most of the temple
land was encroached, and a small passage was left to approach the temple. When
the temple went into a dilapidated condition, with the effort of M/s
Mahendran, Pandurangan, and Nethaji Babu, the temple was reconstructed, and Maha
Kumbhabhishekam was conducted in 2003.
An
inscription stone (Soola kal) with 17th to 18th-century scripts and a Trishul with sun and moon on the back side is installed in the
mandapam. This inscription stone may refer to lands gifted to this temple.
Maha
Kumbhabhishekam was conducted on 04th July 2018. Now, it is proposed
to conduct the Kumbhabhishekam to Swarna Akarshana Bairavar, Somaskandar, and Utsava Murtis on 28th October
2022.
LEGENDS
It
is believed that this is the 51st of 108 Shiva temples (May be
Thondai Nadu). It is believed that praying to the Shiva of this temple will get
rid of all ailments and diseases. Hence, this temple is a Sarvaroga Parihara
Stalam.
A
Munivar idol is near Nalvar's sannidhi. It
is believed that Natarajar, as Ambalavanar, gave darshan to this Munivar. It is further
believed that this place, Ambattur, got its name after Sri Ambalavaneswarar of this temple.
POOJAS AND
CELEBRATIONS
Apart
from regular poojas, special poojas are conducted on Fridays, pradoshan, Maha
Shivaratri, etc. In addition to this, special poojas are conducted on Pradosham,
Monthly Shivaratri, Pournami, Sankatahara Chaturthi, Amavasya, Kiruthigai, etc.
TEMPLE TIMINGS
The
temple will be kept open from 06.30 hrs to 10.30 hrs and from 18.00 hrs to 20.00
hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS
R
Balu Gurkkal or the temple may be contacted on the mobile numbers +919176074964
(Mahendran), +91 9884168202, and +91 9444893333 for further details.
HOW TO REACH
The
temple is 500 meters from Madras Thiruvallur High Road, 500 meters from
Dunlop Factory bus stop, 2.5 km from Ambattur O T Bus terminus, 2.0 km from
Ambattur Industrial Bus Depot, 10 km from Koyambedu Bus Terminal, and 15.6 km from Chennai Central Railway Station.
The nearest
Railway Station is Ambattur.
LOCATION OF THE
TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---
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