Agasteeswara Temple, Perungalathur

It is traditionally believed that the sage Agastya installed 108 Shiva Lingas in the Tondai region, and all of them are named Agasteeswara. Hence, Chennai city and its suburbs, which were part of the ancient Tondai region, have many Shiva temples called Agasteeswarams. There is one such Agasteeswara temple located in Old Perungalathur, the southern outskirt of the city.

The east-facing sanctum enshrines a two feet high small Shiv Linga named Agasteeswara. In Maha Mandapa, the Goddess Akilandeswari is found in a separate south-facing shrine. 

Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Lingodbhava, Brahma, and Vishnu Durga are found as the Koshta deities. Brahma and Durga are new icons. The other three are old images. 

Chandikeshwara is found in his usual location in a small south-facing sub-shrine near Durga.

There are separate shrines for Raja Ganapati and Muthukumara-Valli-Devasena in the prakara.

All the bronze icons are kept in a separate sub-shrine in Maha Mandapa.

A stone slab below the holy tree appears to be a few centuries old. It has the relief sculptures of Krishna, Vishnu, two more deities and five females (Sapa Kanyas?). Towards the end, it is broken.

The pillars in ardha mandapa are original ones, but the other parts are entirely renovated recently. A few interest relief images are found on those pillars. 

The stone walls appear to be old. There is no inscription found in the temple.

An ancient icon of Goddess is kept below a holy tree. Swarna Akarshana Bhairava in this temple is unique. He holds Lakshmi in his arm.

Happy travelling. 

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