Marundeeswarar Temple, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai

This evening, I went to the Marundeeswarar Temple at Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, Tamilnadu. Its about a 3 minute walk from the Thiruvanmiyur Bus Stop. Its a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. He is worshipped as Lord Marundeeswarar and His Consort, Shakthi is worshipped as Goddess Thripurasundari. This is one of the very ancient temples in Tamilnadu. It had recently been renovated and the Kumbabhishekham performed last month in May. Today was a Sunday. I reached the temple at about 4:30, around the beginning of the Rahu Kaala.

First was the deity who is always worshipped first, Ganesha. Then Valli Devasena Sametha Subrahmanya. Then I entered the inner sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Marundeeswara. Purana says that Kamadhenu, the cow of eternal prosperity offered milk and showered the Linga. The darshan was a very nice one.

Around the shrine of Lord Shiva, are a variety of other idols. To the direct left of the Lord, facing him is a Pillayar. Then on the pradhakshanam or the clockwise round, comes the King of Dance, Nataraja. To the north is Chandeswarar facing the Lord and Goddess Durga facing North. In the far north east corner of the inner shrine, is the Guarding Deity Bhairavar. In the same corridor as Bhairavar, is an array of Shiva lingas totaling to a 108. Further on the pradhakshanam comes Vishnu, the protector, facing east. Opposite Vishnu in the corridor pedestal, are Lingas of Badrinatheswarar, Jambulingeswarar and Arunachaleswarar. On the pradhakshanam along the south comes Lord Dakshinamurthy, the bestower of knowledge and the eradicator of ignorance followed by another Pillayar. Opposite Dakshinamurthy, start the idols of the 63 Nayanmars or Shaivite Saints.

The shrine of the Goddess Thripurasundari is outside the Shrine of Lord Marundheeswarar. Outside Her shrine, in one of the pillars is present a carving of Lord Sarabeswarar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva initiated in order to control the rage of Lord Narasimha, after the latter consumed the blood of an asura named Hiranyakashipu after killing him and hence went out of control. Worshipping Lord Sarabeswarar in the Rahu Kaala is very sacred. I also got to worship Him in the special hour.

The temple is situated in the ECR. There are also many other temples along this road. They include Shirdi Sai Baba temple, Puri Jagannath Temple, Thiruvidanthai Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple to mention a few.