Val Muneeswaran - Chennai

I have already covered the biggest and the second biggest Muneeswarans of Chennai in my blog. This is about another such big idol of Muneeswaran.

Muneeswaran is a popular Grama devata (village deity). He is found all over Tamil Nadu and even in some parts of Karnataka. For the region around Chennai, the presiding male village deity is always Muneeswaran. Many small and big Muneeswaran temples in and around Chennai remain unknown or lesser known. Let me discuss one such lesser-known Muneeswaran temple in this article.

Medavakkam is a well-known locality of Chennai, which is very crowded and congested. But the region where this temple is located is peaceful, although it is also part of Medavakkam. In fact, it is a proper village setup. It is like having a village inside the city.

The temple is named Pachai Amman Temple. Pachai Amman is a form of Parvati, worshiped as a village deity. The temple also has the shrines of Vedapureeswarar Linga and Nagathamman. Nathamman's icon is found along with a real snake hole. Vedapureeswarar shrine is like a typical Shiva temple with Amman and niche images.

The Sapta Matas are depicted as seven sacred bricks in the open space around the temple. Similarly, Sapta Munis, the seven forms of Muneeswara, are also depicted as seven bricks.

The big stucco image of Val Muneeswaran also lies in the open space in front of the temple. He is found in the sitting posture with his left leg folded. He holds a sickle and mace in his arms. He has wide eyes and a big mustache depicting his ferocious form. This image is the highlight of this temple.

Happy travelling.