The Twin Temples of Tambaram

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Site Name: Vaidyanatha Swamy and Ramanjaneyar Temples
Site Type: Hindu Temple
Location:  Tambaram, near Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India
Highlights: Twin temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Rama
Nearest Railway Station: Tambaram
Nearest Airport: Chennai
How to reach: Well connected by road, rail and air
Hotel: All sorts of options are available in Chennai
Restaurants: All sorts of options are available in Chennai

Tambaram is a town located near Chennai city in South India. There is a twin temple dedicated to Shiva and Rama in this town. Let us explore this temple in this article.

Highlights:
  • God - Vaidyanatha Swamy /Rama
  • Goddess - Thaiyal Nayaki /Sita, Maha Lakshmi and Andal
  • Twin temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Rama

Introduction:

The twin temple of Lord Vaidyanatha Swamy (Shiva) and Lord Rama is located in the Airport road in Tambaram Sanatorium area near Chennai city in South India. As it is located in the prime location, it always attracts a lot of devotees. It is rare to find a twin temple dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva. In Chennai, there is one such temple located in T. Nagar.

Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple:

As mentioned above, there are two temple located in the same complex. The first temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva called as Vaidyanatha Swamy. It has a separate tower and it faces the east direction. The sanctum sanctorum enshrines Lord Vaidyanatha Swamy in a big Shiva Linga form. There is a separate South facing shrine dedicated to the Goddess Thaiyal Nayaki. 

The prakara around the main shrine has Dakshinamurti and Vishnu Durga as the niche deities. The sub shrines of Sasi Mangala Maha Ganapati, Muthukumara Swamy with his consorts Valli and Devasena and Navagraha are also located in this temple. There is another shrine dedicated to utsava idols where various metal idols such as Nataraja-Sivakami, Uma-Maheswara, Ganesha, Subramany-Valli-Devasena, etc. are found.

The temple has flag staff, bali peetha and Nandi facing towards the main shrine.

Ramanjaneyar Temple:

The second temple is dedicated to Lord Ram; it is called as Ramanjaneya temple. The main shrine has the tall idol of Rama along with Lakshman and Sita as well as a small idol of Hanuman. 

Importantly, the idol of Garuda is found facing the main shrine instead of Hanuman. Usually, Hanuman is found facing towards the main shrines of Rama. It is a unique in this temple. 

This temple also has separate tower, bali peetha and flag staff.

In the prakara, there are two sub-shrines dedicated to the Goddesses Maha Lakshmi and Andal. It is again a rare feature; Lakshmi and Andal are found in the prakara only in the Vishnu temples and not usually in the temple dedicated to Vishnu's incarnation, Rama.

There are separate shrines for Yoga Narasimha holding discus in all his four arms, Chakrathalwar (Sudarshan) and Vishwaksena.

The shrine dedicated to Hanuman in this temple is very important as it was the first idol which in a way was the reason behind the construction of this temple.

Happy travelling.


Location: Tambaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

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