Viswanathapuram - Deity from Kasi installed by Gujaratis in Madras

Not anyone could imagine such a rural setup hidden amidst the hustle and bustle of the congested Ayanavaram locality in Chennai. It is a peaceful hamlet located within the busy part of the city. A neat and clean temple in the center, with flower vendors at the entrances, surrounded by tile-roofed old houses and a big old-styled guesthouse called choultry - it gives an entirely different perspective on the otherwise busy Ayanavaram.

The temple has an interesting historical background. Located near the Ayanavaram bus stand close to Medavakkam Tank Road, the unknown area was so prominent in the olden days. It was known as Viswanathapuram. The presiding deity of the temple is Viswanathar.

The Gujarati community of Chennai has its own history and tradition. Kheda is a district near Ahmedabad city in Gujarat state. The Brahmin community from Kheda is called Khedawal Gujaratis. A group of Khedawal Gujaratis from the Kheda district migrated to Tamil Nadu state at the beginning of the 18th century CE. The reason or the exact period of their migration is unknown, though there are different versions and theories about their migration.

The Khedawal Gujarati families have different family names, such as Bhat, Davey, Tawker, Pandya, etc. Two women, Ramkor Bai and Ratna Bai, from a wealthy Tawker family from Madras, went on a pilgrimage to Varanasi in the early 1800s. They brought two Shiva Lingas and installed them in their plots in Sowcarpet and Viswanathapuram. They donated the Sowcarpet land to their community. It is called Mota Uttara or Sri Niketan today and is located on Mint Street. The sisters built a temple for Shiva Linga in Viswanathapuram. Both the Shiva Lingas are named Kasi Vishwanathar.

The sisters and their family members built houses and shops around the temple to ensure continuous income to upkeep the temple. Half of the land went into the hands of the Government, and the Ayanavaram Bus Depot and adjoining residences were built on that plot. Sadly, the temple tank was wholly cut off from the temple by the high road. 

There is hearsay among the Madras Gujaratis that the sisters wanted to build an adjoining temple for Vishnu, but they had lost their money by then. 

The inscriptions are found at the entrance slabs in three languages, Tamil, Gujarati and Telugu. It is not in a readable format. Based on my reading, I understand the temple was built in the Prabhava year corresponding to 1806 CE. The inscription talks about the houses built in the area for upkeeping the temple. It mentions the name of Vishwanatha Tawker, the grandson of Sivarama Tawker and son of Mulesvara Tawker, a Gujarati Kheda Brahmin. The sisters must be from Vishwanatha Tawker's family.

The current trustees of the temple are from Davey family. From the beginning of the 20th century, the Davey family has been taking care of the temple administration. The notable names among the earliest trustees are T.R. Krishnaji Davey and T.R. Ranganath Davey.

Though the Gujaratis built and continue to administer the temple of Shiva Linga from Varanasi, the architecture and the temple rituals are similar to that of other typical temples of Tamil Nadu. 

The temple, an excellent example of the shrine built during the British period in Madras, has two entrances, east and south. There is no tower or gopuram at any of the two entrances. 

The east-facing sanctum enshrines the big Shiva Linga called Kasi Viswanathar. There is a separate south-facing shrine for Visalakshi.

The stone images of Sapta Matrikas, Murugan-Valli-Devasena, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Annapoorani are found in the Maha Mandapa.

The entrance of Viswanatha is guarded by two big Dwarapalas, Dindi and Mundi.

The attractive and big-sized bronze icons of Bhikshatana, Mohini, Nataraja, Sivakami and Manickavasagar are kept in a sub-shrine in Maha mandapa.

Veerabhadra and Hanuman are newly built sub-shrines.

Nandi mandapa and flagstaff are found facing the main shrine.

A big circumambulatory (prakara) around the temple has the stone images of Surya and Chandra, sub-shrines of Ganesha, Bhairava and Navagraha, and a vast shrine housing many metal icons, importantly Somaskanda.

Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are the Koshta deities. Chandkikeswara is found in his usual location near Brahma and Durga.

The Vimanas have many colorful and interesting stucco images. Different forms of Shiva and Uma and also Ashta Dik Palas are depicted.

Happy travelling.