Sembakkam Jambulingeshwara Temple

Not many of you from Chennai would have heard about this temple. It is Jambulingeshwara Temple located in Kamarajapuram of Sembakkam area near Tambaram (in the southern outskirts of Chennai city) in South India.

Although I could not gather much information about the temple's history, I think the temple must be a few hundred years old. It is located in a calm and peaceful environment. A massive tank in front of the temple is supposed to enhance the beauty of this location; unfortunately, the tank does not have water.

The temple does not have a tower. But it is currently being constructed (2017 CE). It would face the north direction.

The east-facing sanctum enshrines Jambulingeshwara Linga.

Maha Mandapa has a separate south-facing shrine for the Goddess Akhilandeshwari.

Bali peetha and Nandi are found facing towards the sanctum. There is no flag staff.

Similar to the temples of Thanjavur and Trichy regions, there is Nandi in front of the Goddess too. Generally, in the Chennai temples, only the lion would be found as the vaahan and not Nandi. It is an unusual feature of this temple.

The spacious prakara has the sub-shrines of Maha Ganapati, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena, Ayyappan, Shaneeswara and Navagraha.

Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are the niche images. Chandikeshwara is found in his usual location.

In Ardha Mandap, the utsav murtis of Nataraja and Sivakami are located. Another unique feature of the temple is the bronze idol of Kanchi Paramacharya, found in the Akhilandeshwari shrine.

Happy travelling.