Chennai Mallikeswarar Temple

It is indeed difficult to believe that such a big temple is located in the ever-congested Lingi Chetti Street of George Town in Chennai. Mallikeswarar Temple, also known as Mallikarjuna Temple, is not confused with Chenna Malleeswarar Temple. This temple is much older. Even in 1652 CE, the British records mention this temple as an ancient temple. They call it Mally Carjun's Old Pagoda. Hence, it is evident that the temple is older than the colonial era. There is a possibility that this temple could have been built in the 16th century CE or even before that. If we go by the available historical records in the entire Black Town area, I believe this is the oldest temple.

It is said that the temple was completely buried under the ground, and only the topmost portion showed up. The entire temple was discovered by digging up the land. When did this happen? There is no historical record. However, the temple is indeed below road level. The pillared hall in front of the temple tower is on road level. From the entrance, a flight of steps would lead us down into the courtyard of the temple. (Ekambareswarar temple in Mint Street is another temple in the Black Town area below road level.)

There is a legend added to the above information. When the temple was uncovered, fresh jasmine flowers were found on the Shiva in Linga. Hence, they called the newly discovered deity as Mallikeswarar (the word "Malli" means jasmine in Tamil ).

The frontside mandapa and the Piallaiyar (Ganesha) shrine facing the mandapa were built in 1897 CE by Manicka Chettiar. The gigantic and colorful seven-tiered tower was constructed between 1874 and 1888 CE by Vedavalli Ammal, the wife of Ekamra Vaidya Lingi Chettiar. The tower was repaired, and many stucco images were added in 1928 CE by Ellappa Chettiar. The vimanas were rebuilt in the 1930s. Some mandapas in the prakara were built in 1925 CE. The temple has been a favorite for the Berri Chetti community. They have contributed a lot to this temple in the last three centuries.

During the Siege of Madras (1758-59 CE), the Regiment of Lally camped in this temple. (Thomas Arthur Lally was a French General who commanded French forces during this period).

Temple Layout and Structure

16 Pillared Mandapa

In front of the temple tower, the 16 pillared mandapa is located. The lintel of the mandapa has the details of the builder. Also, the bas relief images of Rishabha Vahana Shiva-Parvati, Nalvar, Sapta Rishis, Shiva Linga, and a pair of erotic sculptures are found on the lintel.

The mandapa has many interesting sculptures on the pillars, such as Vishnu's image on top of Shiv Linga, Melakottai Perumal and his consort, Rama and Sita, Nataraja, Palani, Vaikunthavasa, Shiva presenting mango to Ganesha while Kartikeya watching, 12 Jyotir Lingas, different depiction of Parthasarathy, Kunti, Pandu, Dharmaraja-Draupadi, Sahadeva and others.

Where else in Chennai could we find Pandu and Kunti? These are rare sculptures to be found only in this temple.

Raja Gopuram

The magnificent seven tala Raja Gopuram is very attractive. It has so many interesting stucco images.

Each tier (tala) has a pair of Dwarapalas. The top most tala has Dwarapalas with four arms. The Dwarapalas at the second tala from the top have six arms. The Dwarapalas at the next level have eight arms. The number of arms of the Dwarapalas keep increasing for every tala down and the bottom most tala has Dwarapalas with sixteen arms.

The images of Elappa Chettiar and his wife are found in the gopura. The images of many half-naked females are also found. The soldiers wearing European-style boots are found, which reminds us of the period of the construction. Ekapada Murti, Lingodbhava, Meenakshi Kalyanam, Sadasiva Murti, Shiva presenting the divine fruit to Ganesha, Nataraja and the dancing Kali, Markandeya Anugraha Murti, Veerabhadra, Gaja Samhara Murti, Narada and Tumburu, Ten headed Raavana playing veena and pleading Shiva, Shiva seated on Adhikara Nandi, the female celestials with wings like angels (later influence), Rati and Manmada with a small cupid like representation and many such exciting icons adorn the gopura.

The entrance with the tower on top faces the south direction. On either side of the tower, the images of Ganesha and Kartikeya are located.

Presiding Deities

The presiding deity of the temple is Mallikeswarar, who is found in the form of a Shiva Linga. His sanctum is facing the east direction. At the entrance, the relief images of Dwarapalas are found.
The Goddess of the temple is Maragambal, who is found in a separate south-facing shrine.

Nandi and Simha are found facing towards the shrines of Shiva Linga and Amman, respectively, in the Maha Mandapa.

Outside the enclosure, the flagstaff, bali peetha and Nandi mandapa are found facing towards the sanctum in the courtyard. Similarly, there is a separate flagstaff and Simha Vaahana for the Goddess.

Inner Prakara

The sanctum, shrine of Goddess, inner prakara and Maha Mandap are located within an enclosure. The entrance of that enclosure is in the southern direction.

The idols of Ganesha and Kartikeya are located near the flagstaff in the east direction.

Inside the enclosure, at the entrance of the shrine of Maragambal, another set of Ganesha and Kartikeya are found. The entrance of the sanctum has just one Ganesha image.

There are so many shrines and icons found in the inner prakara stretch. Nardana Ganesh, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are found as the Koshta Murtis. Chandikeshwara is located in the usual location near Brahma and Durga.

Two significant shrines are found adjacent to the sanctum. In one shrine, the big-sized metal idols of Nataraja-Sivakami-Manickavasagar are found. The other shrine enshrines the big Utsava murtis of Somaskanda.

The sub-shrines of Polla Pillaiyar, Shanmukha-Valli-Devasena, Saraswati, the utsava murtis of Shanmukha and his consorts, big Kailasanathar Linga, Adipureeswara Linga, Nalvar and Vishwanatha Linga with Vishalakshi are located in the inner prakara.

Additionally, there is a Shiva Linga found to the true right side of the sanctum. Two small Shiva Lingas called Mahadeva are found in two separate sub-shrines. The Utsava murtis of Uma and Chandrashekhar are located in a separate sub-shrine. The entrance of the shrines has the tiny icons of Ganesha and Kartikeya.

The images of 63 Nayanmars look beautiful. Ganesha, Sekkizhar, Sundarar, Lakshmi-Narayana, Bhairava, north-facing Ganesha, Shaneeswara, Surya and Chandra are also found in the prakara.

Outer Prakara

The outer prakara of the courtyard spreads across a vast area. The sub-shrines of Ananda Vinayaka, Nriti Vinayaka, holy tree, Nagaraja images under the tree, Goshala, temple tank, a sub-shrine of Ganesha on the banks, and a few small mandapas are all located in the courtyard.

Navagrahas are found along with their respective vahanas. Also, all the remaining eight planets (grahas) are found surrounding Surya in circle.

The temple is historically the oldest temple of George Town (a.k.a. Black Town). This is one of the biggest temples of the region. Similar to the Bairagi Mutt temple, this is also an artistically beautiful temple. Some rare sculptures are found in the mandapa as well as on the tower. Unfortunately, this temple is generally neglected. Not even the people from this locality regularly visit the temple.

Happy travelling.