Indian Columbus

Pulakeshin II  was the most illustrious Emperor of the Chalukya Dynasty. Considered the most powerful ruler during his times, he had defeated even two other powerful emperors, Harshavardhana and Mahendravarma Pallava. However, there was an end to his uninterrupted victories.  Narasimhavarma Pallava I , a rare Indian ruler who had never experienced a defeat, routed him repeatedly. The Copper Plates of Kuram record the triumph of Narasimha over the Chalukyan army in three places.  Manimangalam , a suburb of the current Chennai city, is one of those sites. This historic battlefield, a quiet village until a few decades ago and a busy developing locality nowadays, is dotted with many temples. However, those temples were built by the Cholas and none of the Pallava-era shrines still exist. This article is to record the only remaining Pallava symbol in Manimangalam.  ( Note:  I have curated a heritage trip to this site and wrote about this in my blog, several years ago....

Pulakeshin II  was the most illustrious Emperor of the Chalukya Dynasty. Considered the most powerful ruler during his times, he had defeated even two other powerful emperors, Harshavardhana and Mahendravarma Pallava. However, there was an end to his uninterrupted victories.  Narasimhavarma Pallava I , a rare Indian ruler who had never experienced a defeat, routed him repeatedly. The Copper Plates of Kuram record the triumph of Narasimha over the Chalukyan army in three places.  Manimangalam , a suburb of the current Chennai city, is one of those sites. This historic battlefield, a quiet village until a few decades ago and a busy developing locality nowadays, is dotted with many temples. Among them, there were  three Chola-era Vishnu shrines . One temple was lost without any trace. The second temple is Rajagopala Swami Temple, which is comparatively bigger and popular. The third temple, known as Vaikuntha Perumal Temple , is historically significant. But, it has lost...

Built around 30 years ago in Manimangalam Road in Mudichur, the southern outskirts of Chennai, Narasimha Anjaneya Temple is unique. The stucco images at the entrance are interesting. Various Vanaras are seen playing different musical instruments.  The temple with a tall tower (Gopuram) at the entrance covers a vast area. However, besides the main shrine, only two sub-shrines (Ganesha and Iyappan) are found. The main shrine enshrines the stone image and metal icon of Hanuman. The metal icon is a usual Hanuman with his hands in Anjali mudra. However, the stone image is unique. The body has the features of Hanuman, but the face resembles Narasimha (lion face). Hence, he is named Narasimha Anjaneya. It is said that the villagers wanted to construct a temple for Hanuman a few decades ago. The sculptor could not make the sculpture of Hanuman even after multiple attempts. The face resembled Narasimha than Hanuman. Later, as per the advice from Kanchi Maha Periyavar, the image with Narasim...

Pulakeshin II  was the most illustrious Emperor of the Chalukya Dynasty. Considered the most powerful ruler during his times, he had defeated even two other powerful emperors, Harshavardhana and Mahendravarma Pallava. However, there was an end to his uninterrupted victories.  Narasimhavarma Pallava I , a rare Indian ruler who had never experienced a defeat, routed him repeatedly. The Copper Plates of Kuram record the triumph of Narasimha over the Chalukyan army in three places. Manimangalam , a suburb of the current Chennai city, is one of those sites. This historic battlefield, a quiet village until a few decades ago and a busy developing locality nowadays, is dotted with many temples. Among them, there were three Chola-era Vishnu shrines . One temple was lost without any trace. The second temple is dying fast. The third temple is comparatively famous but hardly has any visitors. This article is about that the third one - Rajagopala Swami Temple .  With the walls studded...