Little known Nimishamba Temple of Chennai

Site Name: Nimishamba Temple
Site Type: Hindu Temple
Location:  Kasi Chetty Street, Sowcarpet, Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India
Highlights: A rare temple of Nimishamba in Chennai city
Nearest Railway Station: Chennai - well connected from the cities/towns all over India

Nearest Airport: Chennai has both national and international airports
How to reach: Easily reachable by road as this is centrally located in the city
Hotel: Many star hotels, luxury hotels/resorts, and budget hotels are available in Chennai
Restaurants: All options - vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Chinese, South Indian, Gujarati, North Indian, Punjabi,....- you can find everything in Chennai city

Chennai is considered as the gateway to South India. The capital city of Tamil Nadu state of India has hundreds of tourist sites which include museum, British period monuments, temples, beach, etc. Let us explore a little known temple called Nimishamba temple located in Chennai.

Nimishamba is another name of Goddess Parvati. It is believed that the Goddess would remove the troubles of her devotees within a minute and hence she is named as Nimishamba (nimisha means 'minute'). As per the legend, the Somavanshi Mutharasa King Muktharaja was blessed with the boon that Nimishamba would come to his aid in his fight against the demons in a minute. There is a temple dedicated to Nimishamba built during the reign of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar in the 17th century CE. The temple is found near Srirangapatna. There are few temples of Nimishamba built in many places in Karnataka state later. One such temple was built probably in the 18th century CE in Chennai city in Tamil Nadu state. The temple is situated in the congested Kasi Chetty Street in Sowcarpet area in Chennai.

Sowcarpet is a highly crowded area. It is difficult even to walk in the streets. This temple is located along with other shops and hardly anyone visits this temple. In fact, only few would know about the existence of this old temple in such a busy area. 

The temple has a small tower and the entire structure is recently renovated. The main shrine has Nimishamba in standing posture. There are sub-shrines of Mukteeshwara (Shiva Linga), Ganesha, Subramanya, Vishnu-Sri Devi-Bhoo Devi, Hanumana and Navagraha. The niche idols of Ichcha Shakti, Kriya Shakti and Gnana Shakti are found on the walls of the main shrine.

Happy travelling.