Abirami Temple of Chennai

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Site Name: Amrutakadeshwarar Temple
Site Type: Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva
Location:  Selaiyur, near Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India
Highlights: Considered as 'Tirukkadaiyur' of Chennai
Nearest Railway Station: Chennai
Nearest Airport: Chennai
How to reach: Well connected by road from Chennai; public transport is difficult
Hotel: Go to Chennai or Tambaram where there are lot of options 
Restaurants: Go to Chennai or Tambaram where there are lot of options

Selaiyur is a locality located near Tambaram which is near Chennai city in South India. This locality has so many temples including the famous Skandashram. However, only few know about Abirami - Amrutakadeshwar temple, which is the original temple of Selaiyur. Let us explore this 250 years old temple in this article.

Highlights:
  • God - Amrutakadeshwarar
  • Goddess - Abirami
  • Considered as 'Tirukkadaiyur of Chennai' (there is a popular Abirami temple in Tirukkadaiyur)

Temple Layout:

The west facing temple has a small tower. 

The main shrine enshrines Shiva Linga named as Amrutakadeshwarar. This shrine faces the east direction.

The Goddess Abirami is found in a separate north facing shrine.

Both Amrudakadeshwarar and Abirami have separate Nandi idols placed in front of their respective shrines. It is not usual to find Nandi in front of Goddess in Chennai region.

The niche idols of Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are found on the outer walls of the main shrine.

Some of the sub-shrines found in the temple:


  • Ganesha
  • Subramanya-Valli-Devasena
  • Ayyappa
  • Chandikeshwara
  • Balaji-Padmavathi
  • Garuda
  • Hanuman
  • Surya
  • Chandra
  • Navagraha
  • Bhairava
  • Nalvar

A big temple tank is found within the temple complex.

The holy tree and few serpent (Naga) idols beneath that are also located within the temple. There are many colorful stucco images of Goddess in different forms found across the entire temple.

 Happy travelling.
Location: Sri Abirami Amman Udanurai Amirdhagadeswarar Temple, Easwaran Koil, Selaiyur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600073, India

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