The Magnificent Karaneeswara Temple of Saidapet

The Karaneeswarar Temple of Saidapet is a magnificent structure with a seven-tiered Raja Gopuram adorned with colorful and interesting stucco images of various deities. This tower is considered to be one of the most majestic and beautiful temple towers in Chennai. An equally stunning big temple pond is also found on the proper right side of the temple entrance.

Despite the illusion that the temple is ancient, the tiny inscriptions under the bas-relief images of small figures clarify that the gigantic tower was constructed in the late 1930s. On the southern wall of the inner prakara, the 1887 dated inscription states that one named Subbaraya Mudaliar donated his house to the temple. There is another inscription dated 1919.

Also, the various shrines and superstructures suggest that the temple was originally built in the 1800s, with many renovations carried out later. Nevertheless, the temple has a sthala purana which proclaims the antiquity of the temple.

According to legend, the divine cow Kamadhenu was temporarily given by Indra to the sage Vasishtha for some religious rituals. However, as the holy cow caused hindrance, the furious sage cursed it to turn into a wild cow. To absolve Kamadhenu's sin, Indra created a new pasture of land, installed a Shiva Linga, and created a holy tank. He performed poojas to Shiva Linga by dipping in the holy tank every day. As a result, Shiva appeared to him and absolved the sin committed by Kamadhenu. The word "Kaar" means cloud in Tamil, and as the Lords of clouds (and sky), Indra installed the Shiva Linga, naming it Karaneeswara. The locality was referred to as Karaneeswaram village until the 19th century, and the tank is still called Gopati saras, with the word "Go" referring to Kamadhenu.

As I take a closer look around the Karaneeswarar Temple in Saidapet, I notice a 15th-century-era Vishnu temple in the vicinity of this temple. It begs the question - why was there a need to construct such a mega-sized temple in the 1800s by oversizing the ancient temple in the same village?

Compared to the size of other Chennai temples constructed during the British period, this one is multi-fold bigger. Correspondingly, making such a massive temple by traders and merchants in the 1800s was a challenging feat. Right from acquiring the land and compensating the original owners, this could not have been done without the aid of the local rulers. If such a feat had been accomplished, we could have had records of it. However, there is no such record of constructing a new temple.

Hence, we cannot deny that there was an original temple, although, unfortunately, apart from the traditional legend, there is no other historical evidence for its existence. However, there is a high possibility that the entire temple was renovated by the Sengunta community traders in the 1800s, resulting in the magnificent structure we see today.

As we enter the Karaneeswarar Temple, we notice that the majestic Raja Gopuram is situated on the south side. However, the sanctum sanctorum, as per the tradition, faces the east direction, housing the presiding deity, the Shiva Linga named Karaneeswara, along with the bronze image of Piriya Vidai. The Goddess is also present in a separate shrine on the south side, where she is worshipped as Swarnambika.

The entryways of both shrines are guarded by magnificent Dwarapalas and Dwarapalikas. The entrance of the main shrine additionally has the icons of Ganesha and Subramanya seated on a peacock and flanked by Valli and Devasena.

Nandi faces towards Karaneeswara in the Maha Mandapa, and another larger Nandi is situated near the Dhwajastambha. The outer wall of Karaneeswara's shrine is embellished with niches containing the icons of Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma, and Durga. The inner prakara of the temple has several other deities, including Chandikeswara, 63 Nayanmars, Bhairava, Surya, and a magnificent bronze image of Nataraja with his consort Sivakami in a separate south-facing shrine. Another shrine houses various other bronze images such as Bhikshatana, Uma and Chandrasekhara, Somaskanda, Subramanya, Ganesha, and more.

In the Maha Mandapa, near the south entrance, lies an Alankara Mandapa, where we can find three sub-shrines. They house the metal images of Tyagaraja in the Somaskanda form, Murugan-Valli-Devasena, and Amman. The outer prakara of the temple has several smaller sub-shrines, including Navagraha, Veera Bhadra, Shaneeswara, Hanuman, and Palani Andavan. Notably, five Shiva Lingas representing the Pancha Shiva Sthalams in the form of stucco images, and Ganesha and Subramanya-Valli-Devasena in two separate east-facing shrines can be found here.

Lastly, near the Nandi Mandapa, there is a small temple dedicated to another Shiva Linga, Vedagireeswarar, and Tripura Sundari. The entrance near the Nandi Mandapa has small images of Ganesha and Murugan. 

I hope you have a blissful time exploring the marvels of this ancient temple. Happy travelling!