The Temple of 64 Bhairavas

Bhairava is a fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva. Bhairava himself manifested into eight forms called Ashta Bhairavas. Each of these Ashta Bhairavas leads a group of seven Bhairavas, thus forming eight groups with 64 Bhairavas. There is a temple in Chennai where you can find all these 64 forms of Bhairavas. It is located in Kelambakkam, a southern suburb. Swarna Akarshana Bhairava, the chief of all 64 Bhairavas, is the presiding deity.

Located in a remote and secluded site, this newly built temple of Bhairava has visitors only during important occasions. On normal days, it remains a lonely and a bit of scary place. Inside the temple and around, there are many dogs roam around. Overall, it is advisable not to travel to this site alone.

Although it is a new structure, the temple is interesting as almost all the icons here are unusual and rare. 

The sanctum enshrines Swarna Akarshana Bhairava. His consort Vijaya Chitramba, also known as Swarna Bhairavi, is seated on his left lap. A dog, the vahana of Bhairava, is found outside the shrine.

A ferocious form of a Goddess named Bagalamukhi is found pulling out the tongue of an Asura with her left arm while raising the right arm with a club to attack him. Her large icon looks fearsome, and it is located in Maha mandapa.

Kubera, with his consort Bhadra, a rare form of Mahalakshmi seated on a pedestal atop five tiny elephants named Samrajya Mahalakshmi and Brahmanda Swamigal are the other deities found in the Maha Mandapa.

The sculptures of eight Bhairavas known as Ashta Bhairavas, along with their respective consorts and vahanas, are found as the Koshta images on four sides of the outer walls of the main shrine. The list of Ashta Bhairavas is given below.

1) Asitanga Bhairava; Consort - Brahmani; Vahana - Swan; Direction - East

2) Ruru Bhairava; Consort - Maheswari; Vahana - Bull (Nandi); Direction - Southeast

3) Chanda Bhairava; Consort - Kaumari; Vahana - Peacock; Direction - South

4) Krodha Bhairava; Consort - Vaishnavi; Vahana - Eagle (Garuda); Direction - Southwest

5) UnmattaBhairava; Consort - Varahi; Vahana - Horse; Direction - West

6) Kapala Bhairava; Consort - Indrani; Vahana - Elephant; Direction - Northwest

7) Bheeshana Bhairava; Consort - Chamunda; Vahana - Ghost (Preta); Direction - North

8) Samhara Bhairava; Consort - Chandi; Vahana - Lion; Direction - Northeast

On the prakara around the main shrine, there are a few more rare sculptures. 

Kukkudapjadara is a manifestation of Shiva. His sculpture is found, and he is known as Bhuvi Eerppu Kadavul (Lord of gravitational power) here. 

A gigantic icon of Chhinnamasta is situated in a separate shrine. The ferocious Goddess, standing on a copulating couple, is seen cutting her own head. She holds her severed head in her right arm and a sword in her left arm. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck, drunk by her severed head and her attendants, Dakini and Varnini.

At the entrance of the temple, Ganesha is found in his unusual form. Named Navagraha Vinayaka, he has all nine planets on his body.

The four Vedas in the personified forms and their respective consorts are located in the prakara.

The stucco images of 64 Bhairavas are found all over the Vimana.

At about 200 meters from here, a separate temple for Ashta Dikpalas is situated. A holy tank is surrounded by eight sub-shrines of Dikpalas. Nowhere else we can find the stone sculptures of these deities in separate shrines. The list of Dikpalas is given below.

Indra - East

Agni - Southeast

Yama - South

Nirrti - Southwest

Varuna - West

Vayu - Northwest

Kubera - North

Isana - Northeast

The shrine of Ucchista Ganapati is located nearby. Next is a big shrine housing Sahasra Linga, a five-headed Goddess named Maha Vidya Maha Kali and Maha Meru.

A gigantic icon of Akasha Kali with ten heads is situated in the Ashta Pala shrine.

Happy travelling.