Swarnapureeswarar Temple, Ashok Nagar, Chennai

By -
Ashok Nagar, one of the busiest localities of Chennai, has a beautiful small temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, which remains unknown. It is Swarna Pureeswarar temple.

Swarnapureeswarar Temple, Ashok Nagar, Chennai
Behind the Hotel Saravana Bhavan restaurant near Ashok Pillar, the temple of Swarna Pureeswarar is located on a small street (45th street corner).

The temple is around 40 years old and well-maintained. The presiding deity is Swarna Pureeswarar in the form of a Shiva Linga. It is unusual to find Goddess with two arms in and around Chennai (Tondai mandalam). However, Swarnambikai, the elegant Goddess of the temple graces with two arms, in the standing posture.

This small temple also has other deities such as Nava Siddhi Vinayaka, Anjaneya, Ayyappa, Vallabha Ganapati (ten-armed Ganesha with his consort), Lakshmi, Bala Murugan, Navagraha and Kalyana Murugan (Subramanya with his consorts Valli and Devasena). 

The main shrine's wall has niche images of Nardana Ganapati (the dancing Ganesh), Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhava, Brahma and Durga. Chandikeswara is found in his usual location. The wall surrounding the shrine of Swarnambika has niche images of Icha Shakti, Kriya Shakti and Gnana Shakti.

Happy travelling.

Visit my site, krishnakumartk.com, to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

By -
Image
Consecrated in March 2021, the 40 feet high Bala Murugan icon at Saveetha Medical College campus is the tallest image of Murugan in Chennai. Malaysia has 140 feet tall Murugan. In April 2022, the 146 feet tall image of Murugan was consecrated near Salem in Tamil Nadu. However, they are all stucco images. But, the one that we find on the college campus is a monolithic granite icon. Thus, it is the tallest stone icon of Murugan in the entire world. A stone weighing 320 tonnes was brought from Siruvambur near Wallajah, and it was carved to 140 tonnes to get this beautiful and gigantic sculpture. The entire temple complex is designed in the shape of the Devanagiri letter "Om", which can be appreciated in the aerial view.  The west-facing gigantic sculpture is located atop the star-shaped pedestal. It dominates the entire landscape. A large meditation hall is situated below the pedestal. On the open corridor in front of the presiding deity, smaller shrines are found. They enshrine
Read more

A 17th century Dargah with healing power - Mount Road Dargah, Chennai, India

By -
Image
Mount Road or Anna Salai is one of the most happening places in  Chennai . There are two famous Islamic shrines on Mount Road – one is  Thousands Light mosque . The other one is Dargah-e-Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi (Rahmatullah Alaihi), also known as Mount Road Dargah. It is the most popular Dargah across the city. It draws devotees of all faiths and all walks of life. Especially every Thursday, a large number of devotees gather to the Dargah. A lot of city-based celebrities regularly visit the site. This Dargah is the shrine of a Muslim Saint named Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi. He was also known as Rahmatullah Alaihi. Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi arrived from Baghdad in the middle of the 17th Century CE. He made Chennai his home and lived here. It is believed that he had healing powers. During his time, he had so many devotees regularly visiting him. After his demise, his family buried him next to his house, which is the current Dargah. You can easily lo
Read more

Putlur Angala Parameswari Temple - Chennai

By -
Image
Angala Parameswari Temple in Putlur, near  Chennai  city of South India, is a unique temple. The Goddess is in the form of a pregnant woman in this temple. The icon of Angala Parameswari is believed to be self-manifested, called swayambhu.  As per the legend, a village head tortured a poor for borrowed money. The poor was forced to plough an infertile land. While ploughing the ground full of rocks, the villager noticed that blood was oozing out from a particular place. There, he discovered the image of the Goddess. It is a snake hole (putru in Tamil - where snakes live) in the form of a woman in a sleeping posture with her mouth kept open, and her bulged stomach like a pregnant woman. The villagers built a temple with this putru and named the Goddess Angala Parameswari. Hence, they started calling the village Putlur the town with the divine Putru.  Putlur Angala Parameswari temple is basically a village temple. It is visited by thousands of people. Primarily it will be tough to en
Read more