Vaaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore, Chennai

By Krishnakumar T K - August 13, 2009

Vaaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai, is the fifth Sapta Sthana Shiva temple (seven important temples) in Mylapore. It is located in Gopathi Narayanan Chetti Street near Kolavizhi Amman Temple.

The first four Sapta Sthana temples are:

1) Karaneeswarar Temple

2) Theerthapaleeswarar Temple

3) Velleswarar Temple

4) Virupaksheeswarar Temple

Legend

As per the legend, Vaali, the great Vanara King, worshiped Lord Shiva in this site. Hence, the deity is named after him as Vaaleeswarar.

It is also believed that a Rishi named Govardana installed the Shiv Linga originally.

Temple Layout and Structure

The temple is probably a Chola period temple. However, the renovations and extensions make us wonder if this is a modern-day temple. Except for the idol of Chandikeshwara, I could not find anything ancient in this temple.

The east-facing temple has a narrow entrance and has no tower. The east-facing sanctum enshrines Shiva Linga called Vaaleeswara. In Ardha Mandapa, Vaali is found with his hands folded and worshiping Shiva. The entrance of the shrine has the idols of Ganesh and Palani.
In the Maha Mandapa, the Goddess Periya Nayaki is found in a separate south facing shrine. The name is Periya (big) Nayaki, but her idol is tiny in size.

The courtyard, which has both the shrines of Vaaleeswarar and Periya Nayaki, has Ganesha and Murugan's idols at its entrance. There is no flagstaff. The bali peetha and Nandi are found facing towards the sanctum. Inside the Maha Mandapa, there is another idol of Nandi found.

Nardana Ganapati, Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhava, Brahma, and Durga are found as the temple's Koshta idols.

The sub-shrines of Ganesha, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena, Arunagirinathar, Shaneeswara, Navagraha, Veerabhagu, Bhairava, Nalvar, Surya, Chandra and Hanuman are all found in the prakara.

Another important shrine of the temple is the Pancha Linga shrine. There are five Shiva Lingas found together. Although there are no records, it is widely believed that a Siddha's Jeeva Samadhi is located below these Lingas.

Do visit this temple and become as powerful as Vaali.

Happy travelling.