Kanchipuram is one of the seven holy sites for Hindus. The ancient town is located around 75 km from Chennai city in the Tamil Nadu state of India. The city is said to have more than one thousand temples. However, although one thousand temples cannot be found currently, about one hundred important and ancient temples are located across the town. Let us discuss about a lesser-known ancient temple called Chokkeesar Temple in this article.
This small beautiful Chola period temple is located in North Mada Street, diagonally opposite the famous Kamakshi Amman temple.
This is one of the oldest temples of Kanchipuram, which survives in its original form. As per the inscription, the deity was called Therkirunda Nakkar in those days. It is believed that the temple was built by the Cholas in the 11th century CE. (There is difference of opinion among the historians on the exact period of the temple. There are few who date this temple to 9th/10th century CE.)
As per a not-so-popular legend, Kausiki's (Durga) skin turned dark after killing two Asuras Sumbha and Nisumbha. She worshiped Shiva on this site and got her original complexion back.
The sanctum enshrines Shiva Linga called Chokkeesar or Kausikeswarar. The entire structure of the temple and the vimana, which is made in granite (instead of brick and mortar), looks alluring.
The ceiling of the sanctum has images of fish and serpents capturing the Sun and Moon that depict the eclipse.
The vimana is single tiered Vesara Vimana. Generally, in Eka Tala Vimana, the architectural element called Karna kuta cannot be found. Hence, this vimana stands unusual as it has karna kuta along with the images of Nandi.
Along with Shiv Linga, the Goddess Kamakshi is also found in the sanctum. It is unusual for this city, as all other temples do not have the image of Goddess inside the main shrine. However, this image is recently installed and not old.
Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma, and Vishnu Durga are found as the Koshta deities. However, except for Ganesha's image, which is slightly older, all other icons were installed only in 2009 CE.
The greeva koshta murtis are original and look exceptionally gorgeous. Dakshinamurti, Narasimha and Brahma are found as the greeva koshta murtis.
Nandi is found facing the sanctum. A small image of Ganesha is located near the entrance of the shrine.
The major highlight of the temple is the presence of beautiful miniature images inside the Kapota Nasikas. The sculptures depict snake worshiping Shiva Linga, monkey worshiping Linga, the Goddess worshiping Linga, Shiva-Shakti, Shiva Linga, etc.
Happy travelling.
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