The Village of Temples
How many of you from Chennai know about this nearby village that once had 32 small temples and 32 ponds, in addition to a big Shiva temple and other village temples? Sembakkam is a calm lesser known village near Tiruporur. The distance is around 35 km from Tambaram. The village and the paces surrounding the village for about 15 km are very peaceful, serene and green. Driving from Chennai gives us a pleasant feeling as the narrow roads are surrounded by broad trees on either side. Also, we would wonder if it is located near Chennai or in Kerala, God's own country.
Similar to the famous Tiruvanaikkaval Jamukeshwarar Temple, this village also has a temple for Jambukeshwarar. The village is also named Vada Tiruvanaikkaval or Uttara Jambukeshwararm. Let me call this village "The Village of Temples". Let us see a few important temples of this village.
Jambukeshwarar Temple
The most important site of the village is the ancient temple of Jambukeshwarar.
Legend
Finding so many legends and stories in this temple in a remote and lesser-known village is incredible.
Who built this temple?
It is believed that the ancient Chola King Ko Chenganan, who built the Tiruvanaikkaval Jambukeshwarar temple, built this temple too. The childless king traveled all over his country, visiting various Shaivite sites. His chariot's axle broke down in this village, forcing the king to rest there. In his dream, Lord Shiva appeared and ordered him to build a temple. Accordingly, he made this temple. Later, he was blessed with a child.
Nava Veeras
It is believed that Kartikeya ordered Nava Veeras, and his associates, on this site to march against the Asura army. The battle is believed to have taken place in the nearby Tiruporur village.
The head of Asura
As per another legend, when Lord Subramanya fought with the Asuras in the nearby Tiruporur village, Soorapadma was beheaded and his head fell in this village. Hence, the village got the name Sirampakkam, which later became Sembakkam. People connect this legend even today as the annual flag hoisting of Tiruporur Kandaswamy Temple is done by the villagers of Sembakkam.
Worshiped by Vasuki
Pride of Indra
Lord Indra neglected the sage Narada, when the latter explained this site's importance. Due to this, Indra had to face a lot of difficulties. He got rid of his problems after visiting this holy site.
Agastya's visit
It is said that the sage Agastya worshiped a Shiv Linga on this site, which is named Agasteeswarar even today.
The Holy Well
In front of the shrine of the Goddess, Nandi or lion is not found; instead, there is a holy well. It is named Amrit Teerth. It is believed that it was created by the Goddess herself. Shiva gave the power of 72,000 crores of hymns to the Goddess, and some portion fell in the form of nectar drops into this well.
Siddhas Regular Visit
The locals strongly believe that the Siddhas visit this temple every full moon day, even nowadays.
History
I could not find any inscription in this temple. The historical details that are provided here are not verifiable. They are not factual, and I could not find references from any historical source. The locals offer the details, most of which are found in the Sthala Puranam book.
As mentioned, an early Chola King Kochenganan by name is believed to have built the original temple in brick.
It is said that Gandaraditya Chola rebuilt this temple using stones in the 10th century CE in memory of his wife, Sembian Mahadevi. Some people believe that the village was named Sembakkam after Sembian Mahadevi.
Later, Sundara Chola built a shrine for the Goddess and named her Sundarambal. Nowadays, she is called Alagambikai, the Tamil equivalent word for Sundarambal.
The current structure of the temple is very later period. The sculptures, too, belong to a later period. Some bronze images appear old but not of the Chola period.
Temple Layout, Architecture and Sculptures
Holy Tank
The west-facing temple has no tower. In front of the temple, there is an L-shaped holy tank. It is named Azhi Teerth. It is the source of water that enters the sanctum. Like Tiruvanaikkaval temple, water used to come out of the floor under the Shiv Linga in the shrine. Shiv Linga is installed on top of a square water ditch and hence is called Jala Swayambhu. A few decades ago, when the temple was renovated, and the tiles were replaced, probably due to some engineering defects, the passage of water got blocked.
Main Shrine
The sanctum faces the east direction and enshrines a vast Shiv Linga named Jambukeshwarar.
The Goddess Alagambikai is found in a separate south-facing shrine.
At the entrance of Maha Mandapa, the bas relief images of Ganesha and Skanda seated on a peacock are found.
The flag staff, bali peetha and Nandi Mandapa are found in the outer corridor facing towards the sanctum.
In Maha Mandapa, there is an additional Nandi that faces the sanctum.
Bronze Icons
All the bronze icons are placed in a shrine in Maha Mandapa. They appear to be of later period. However, a few icons look very attractive and possibly a little older. Two sets of Uma-Chandrasekhar (big and small), two sets of Somaskanda (big and small), Uma, Skanda on peacock surrounded by his two consorts in the standing posture, Kartikeya, Kali and Nalvar are some of the utsava icons found here. The Somaskanda icon is stunning.
Other Images
Niche Images
Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Vishnu Durga are found as the niche images. Chandikeshwara is found in his usual location.
A few meters behind the Jambukeshwarar temple, a big modern-day temple is located. It is Sri Peetham Bala, Taruni, Maha Lalitha Tripurasundari Temple.
The icon of Balambika and Tripura yantra were under worship in the pooja room of the house of Sri Arumuga Vamadeva Sivam, for about 32 years from 1986 to 2008 CE. He was the founder of this temple. In 2008, this temple was constructed, and various other deities were also installed.
This temple is mainly for the followers of Sri Vidya Upasana. Hence, most of the deities are in the female form. The entrance tower has many such interesting stucco images of Ram, Krishna, Ranganatha, Kartikeya, Ganesh, Dakshinamurti and others, all in female forms.
The sanctum enshrines the icon of Bala, the Goddess, in the form of a nine-year-old child. She is found seated in Padmasana; she has four arms and holds a text and beads in her upper arms. She is the daughter of Lalitha Tripura Sundari. Her utsav icon is also found nearby.
Behind Bala, the Goddess Taruni, who is in the form of a Kanya, is found. She is found in the standing posture; she has four arms and holds Angusa and Pasam in her upper arms. Her icon is made of copper.
Mahameru, made of neem tree, is also found in the sanctum.
On either side of Taruni, the icons of Matangi and Varahi are found. Matangi holds Veena in her arms, similar to Saraswati. She is the minister of Taruni, whereas Varahi is the general of Taruni.
A few bronze icons are found in the main shrine and the front side mandapa.
On the first floor, the gigantic 9 feet high icon of Lalita Tripurasundari, made of herbals and organic materials, is found. She is standing on Padmapeetham. The beautiful idol of the Goddess has four arms. She holds angusha and pasa in her upper arms, whereas flower arrow and sugarcane bow are in her lower arms. The iconography resembles that of Kamakshi to some extent. This sanctum has only oil lamps and natural light; without artificial electrical light, this place looks like heaven.
Samadhis of the Saints
Sri Ponnambala Swamigal and Sri Tirumeni Linga Swamigal were two Siddhas who had made Sembakkam their homes. Both of their Samadhi temples are found next to Jambukeshwara Temple.
Dakshinamurti Temple
It is rare to find a separate temple for Dakshinamurti; we can find one temple at Tiruvottriyur and another at Ambattur. Similarly, in Sembakkam, there is a separate temple with a big icon of Dakshinamurti. The nearby shrine has a big stone icon of Nataraj. A few other deities, the village deity and the snake hole, are also found. It appears that the old village temple has progressed as Dakshinamurti temple recently.
The Other Temples
The village once had 32 Ganesha temples, each for every street. It is said that there were 32 ponds too. Now, except for a lake and the principal temple tank, only 5-6 ponds are found. Currently, there are only 27 Ganesha temples in this village. One of those Ganesha temples is located well at the entrance of Jambukeshwarar Temple. Apart from the Ganesha temples, there are 16 other temples too found in this small village.
Happy travelling.
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