Vellishwarar temple- Mylapore, Chennai

  Mylapore area, in the heart of the Chennai city has a cluster of ancient temples and  today I am taking you to Vellishwarar temple which is situated very near to Kapaleeshwarar temple 

Vellishwarar is Lord Shiva and His consort is Kamakshi. It is a small temple and one cannot miss this on South Mada street.

This is one of the   7 Shiva Sthana temples of  Mylapore . It is believed to be more than 300 years old.

This temple also has sub shrines for Ganesha, Muruga, Dakishnasmoorthy Lingodhbhava and Navagrihas and  celebrates its yearly festival in May.

Do add this to you list when you plan for Mylapore temples.

Madhava Perumal temple- Mylapore, Chennai, Tamilnadu

Madhava Perumal temple at Mylapore is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is said to be at least 800 years old.

Legend- The great sage Bhrigu was yearning for a child and Lord Vishnu instructed Lakshmi to be born as the sage's daughter. Later Vishnu as Madhava Perumal married Lakshmi , known here as Amrithavalli . The Lord here is also known as Kalyana Madhavan as he married Goddess here.
Devotees offer worship for getting good match in life and also for getting off springs.

The main sanctum has Lord Madhava and on either side of the main temple are shrines of Amritavalli  and Andal.
Sub shrines inside the temple are  for Boo Varahar , Peyazhwar, Ramanuja and Manavala Mamunigal.

It is also believed that sage Vysa also performed his penance here as this was a Holy place.

The temple is easy to locate as it is just a few meters from the Mundakanniamman temple and about a  kilometer walk from Kapaleeshwar temple.
The serene divine atmosphere of this temple is captivating as one can have darshan of  Lord peacefully

                                                           

                                                           

Mundakanniyamman temple- Mylapore , Chennai

 Mundakanniyamman, the name is unique,so is the  Goddess in this  temple, which is situated in the Northern side of Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar temple.

The main idol in the sanctum appears small but is considered to be very powerful.  Since the manifestation is just  like a head resembling a lotus - the deity bears the name Mundakam which means lotus in Tamil. There is also a big image of Goddess etched in silver above the manifestation with huge sparkling eyes .

The Goddess here, is believed to be Saraswathi, and she has thousands of devotees flocking to her  abode with fervent prayers to protect them from various problems and also to ward off curses, occult, illness and influences of bad spirits. A major chunk of her devotees are women and they offer her milk, fruits, flowers, silks with fervent prayers  she in turn grants their wish.

A huge banyan tree behind the sanctum provides shade to Goddess and she is happy sitting under a thatched roof in natural surroundings . There is an ant hill under  the tree,and it  is believed to be the place of temple nagam. Offering prayers here also removes Nagadosham. 

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This temple is considered to be more than 1300 years old.

Aadi month festival is very famous and women flock here seeking Her blessings.
This temple is just a 10 minute walk from Kapaleeshwarar temple.

Sri Vedanta Desikar Devasthanam-Mylapore, Chennai

A small walk from the Mylapore temple tank towards Chitrakulam will take one to the Vedanta Desikar temple. He is considered as the reincarnation of Divine bell of Lord Vishnu.

The temple is situated very close to  Peyalwar temple.
Desikar was a  great Acharya who mastered all sastras and became a scholar. He has written thousands of stotras on Lord Srimannarayana.

All Acharyas walked the length and breadth of the country extolling the beauty and grace of Lord but in case of Mylapore temple, Lord Srinivasa  with his consort came in search of Desikan ,to be with him.

The main sanctum has Lord Srinivasa's idol ; a beautiful one which would give one a feeling of visiting the Tirumala temple and outside on the left side we can find  Lakshmi Hayagreeva and an idol of Desikan in a small shrine.
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 A detail history of Desikar here
There also shrines for Anjaneyar, Garuda,Peyazhawar,Hayagrivar, Lakshmi Narasimha, Sudarshana and Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and Sri Andal.

Aadikesava Perumal Peyalwar Tirukoil , Mylapore, Chennai

Adikesava Perumal  Peyalwar temple is situated near Chitrakulam in Mylapore.

It is one among the 108 divyadesam and this temple along with Tiruvellikeni is considered as one divyadesam.

This temple is believed to be 5000 years old and also  believed to be in existence from dwaparayuga though it has undergone renovations many times.

This is the birth place of Peyalwar; one of the first 3  Alwars ( saints)of the 12 Alwars

In the sanctum of the main temple there is the beautiful idol of  Adi Kesavaperumal ( Lord Vishnu). Facing the God is Garudar sannidhi and dwajasthambha.

 His consort Mayurvalli thayar  blesses all the devotees from a separate shrine.Here at this sacred place Peyalwar received blessings from Thayar. On her advice he worshiped Kesava Perumal here.Every Friday a special worship known as  Vilvarchanai is performed to the Goddess  Mayuravalli  by devotees and she makes everyone happy by granting their wish.

Andal is also enshrined within the complex  and there are also idols of Alwars here.

It is also believed that Sri Rama while returning from Lanka got attracted to this place and stayed here for sometime before returning to Ayodhya.

Poigai Alwar and Booththa alwar also sang mangalsanams ( hymns)to Lord here.

Peyalwar goes in a procession to Tiruvellikeni during Tamil  month of Purattasi , and enters the sanctum there, offers worship there by singing hymns.

 More details can be found here about the temple.

One needs special permission to use camera.

I have just a couple of pictures.

Please refer the link for more pictures.

                                    
                                            

Kapaleeshwarar temple- Mylapore, Chennai

This temple is situated in the heart of Chennai and the presiding deity here is Siva , known as Kapaleeshwarar and the Amman here is known as Karpagambal. This is also an important Sivasthalam or Padal petra sthalam. This temple has two towers, one on the East and the other on the West with excellent sculptures depicted on it. This temple also houses many sub shrines and each has its own beautifully carved towers.

Amman shrine is facing South and is near to the Kapaleeshwarar sannidhi. This shrine has the palliyarai (bed chamber) of the divine couple. There is a separate Utsavar for the Amman. Hymns praising the Goddess are engraved all along the walls of the inner prakaram.

Kapaleeshwarar sannidhi is facing the West side. In the inner prakaram as we circumambulate, there are idols of 63 Nayanmars, separate niche for the Godesses Lakshmi , Saraswathi and Parvati , Vinayagar, Bairavar, Veerabhadrar, Durgai Amman, Lingodbhavar, Dakshinamooorthy and Chanbdikeshwarar. There is also a separate shrine for Nataraja and Sivakami inside the Kapaleeshwarar inner prakaram.

Outermost prakaram has the Nandi mandapam and behind that is the dwajasthambha. There are beautiful carvings on the pillars of this mandapam. As we go around the temple in the outer most prakaram there is a shrine for Punnaivananathar. Inside this shrine there is a Sivalingam with a peacock near by. It is believed that the God appeared to the Amman here under the Punnai tree when she worshipped him in the form of a mayil (peacock) and this place is known as Mylapore. The Punnai tree is adjacent to this shrine and considered as a sacred tree and the aspiring and child less couples tie cradles with the belief that such an act would bless them with a child.

Then there are separate shrines for Saneeshwarar, Navagrahas, Sundareshwarar, Jagadeeshwarar, Narthana Ganapathi and Annamalaiyar. Each shrine has its own beautifully carved tower.

The shrine of Singara Velan (Muruga) on the South side has a separate dwajasthambha. Parallel to this shrine is a long mandapam where pilgrims can rest and listen to discourses in the temple. Attached to this hall is the shrine of Dandayudhapani and Vayilla Nadhar. Vayilla Nadhar, a great saint worshipped God by maintaining silence through out his life . The bell tower is also on the West side.

This temple is about 350 years old. But historical manuscripts point out that it existed on the shores of Chennai much before that. The temple might have been shifted to its present place due to sea erosion.

How to reach:

Chennai is well connected by air, rail and road. As its a metropolis transport facilities are excellent. Many budget as well as luxury hotels are available.