Site Name: Nageswarar Temple
Site Type: Hindu ancient temple
Location: Kundrathur, Near Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India
Highlights: One of Navagraha Sthalams of Chennai
Nearest Railway Station: Chennai
Nearest Airport: Chennai
How to reach: Well connected by road from Chennai
Hotel: A lot of options across Chennai
Restaurants: A lot of options across Chennai
Kundrathur is a peaceful locality near Chennai city, which is popular mainly due to its hilltop Murugan temple. The village has an ancient and big temple of Lord Shiva. Let us explore about this temple named Nageswarar temple in this article.
Highlights:
- God - Nageswarar
- Goddess - Kamakshi
- Teerth (Holy Water) - Surya Pushkarani
- It is a Rahu sthalam and one of Navagraha sthalams of Chennai
- It is considered as equivalent to Tirunageswaram
- It is also called as Vada Tirunageswaram
Legend:
Few years ago, as the original Shiv Linga Idol which was installed by Sekkizar got damaged, the villagers replaced the idol with a new idol. On that night, Lord Shiva appeared in the dream of a devotee and ordered him to reinstall the original idol. Accordingly, the original idol was reinstalled in the sanctum.
History:
The famous Tamil scholar and poet Sekkizhar was from this village named Kundrathur. He lived in the 12th century CE during the period of Kulotunga Chola II. He was the author of Periya Puranam, which talks about the lives and greatness of 63 Nayanmars in detail.
It is said that Sekkizhar had once visited Tirunageswaram near Kumbakonam and he apparently wanted to get darshan of the deity everyday. Hence, he built a similar temple in his native place and this is the history behind this temple in Kundrathur.
It is said that Sekkizhar had once visited Tirunageswaram near Kumbakonam and he apparently wanted to get darshan of the deity everyday. Hence, he built a similar temple in his native place and this is the history behind this temple in Kundrathur.
Temple Layout:
The east facing temple has a five tiered Raja gopura.
The sanctum is east facing. It enshrines a big Shiv Linga idol called as Nageswarar. A utsav idol of Kamakshi is also found in the same sanctum. The entrance has big Dwarapalas and a small Ganesh idol.
The flag staff, Nandi mandap and bali peetha are found facing towards the sanctum. A small Ganesh idol is situated near the flag staff.
In the Ardha mandap of the sanctum, there is a separate south facing shrine enshrining Kamakshi.
There are two prakaras around the sanctum.
In the prakaras, the sub-shrines of Utsav Sekkizhar, Karpaga Vinayak, Satya Narayan, Somaskanda, various Utsav idols, Arunachaleswarar Linga, Vishwanatha Linga, Navagraha, Shani, Sekkizhar, Vempuli Ponni utsav and Natraj-Shivakami are situated.
Also, the idols of Ganesh, Surya, Sundarar, Paravai Nachiar, Nalvar, Kalinga Nardana Krishna, Naga Nageswara Linga, Nagendra Linga, Bhairav, Veera Bhagu, Saraswati and Lakshmi are found in the prakaras.
Ganesh, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are found as the niche idols. Chandikeshwar is found in his usual location.
A huge tank is found outside the temple entrance.
Happy travelling.
The sanctum is east facing. It enshrines a big Shiv Linga idol called as Nageswarar. A utsav idol of Kamakshi is also found in the same sanctum. The entrance has big Dwarapalas and a small Ganesh idol.
The flag staff, Nandi mandap and bali peetha are found facing towards the sanctum. A small Ganesh idol is situated near the flag staff.
In the Ardha mandap of the sanctum, there is a separate south facing shrine enshrining Kamakshi.
There are two prakaras around the sanctum.
In the prakaras, the sub-shrines of Utsav Sekkizhar, Karpaga Vinayak, Satya Narayan, Somaskanda, various Utsav idols, Arunachaleswarar Linga, Vishwanatha Linga, Navagraha, Shani, Sekkizhar, Vempuli Ponni utsav and Natraj-Shivakami are situated.
Also, the idols of Ganesh, Surya, Sundarar, Paravai Nachiar, Nalvar, Kalinga Nardana Krishna, Naga Nageswara Linga, Nagendra Linga, Bhairav, Veera Bhagu, Saraswati and Lakshmi are found in the prakaras.
Ganesh, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are found as the niche idols. Chandikeshwar is found in his usual location.
A huge tank is found outside the temple entrance.
Happy travelling.
