Friday, December 8, 2017

Aadhikesava Perumal Temple, Mylapore – The Temple

Aadhikesava Perumal Temple, Mylapore – The Temple
The temple is built in Dravidian architecture occupies around 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) and has two precincts. The temple has a rectangular plan surrounded by 10 ft (3.0 m) high walls, with a 5-tier gopuram, the gateway tower. The imposing gopuram, constituting the main entrance, looks deceptively simple unlike other such temples in the south. But, on entering, one is awed by the interior. The Door way has Floral artwork signifying lotuses and perennial rivers Ganga and Yamuna. Like any other traditional South Indian temples, it also has the bali peetha, flag staff and Garuda facing the main shrine.





Presiding Deity is called as Aadhikesava Perumal. The presiding deity is housed in the sanctum and is an image made of granite. The deity is seen in standing posture with four arms, facing east and Sridevi and Bhudevi are not with him. The shrine of Garuda faces Adi Kesava, the eagle mount(Vahana) of Vishnu. Utsavar is Sri Kesava Perumal with Sri Devi & Boodevi with pancha Beram. The central shrine is approached through a worship hall and a narrow Ardha mandapam. The flag post ("Dhwaja sthambam") is located behind the shrine of Garuda.




There are images of Azhwars in the worship hall on both sides. The Vimaanam is ‘Mayura Vimaanam’. Mother is called as Mayuravalli / Bhargavi. The shrine of Mayuravalli is located on the western side of the temple in the second precinct. She is in sitting posture with two arms holding lotus flowers and the other two arms in the 'abhaya' and the 'Varada' pose and is facing east. Utsavar is Mayuravalli Thayar in Sitting Posture facing east. The Friday special pooja to Thayar attracts a lot of devotes.





Peyalvar is in a separate sanctum, seated and facing south in the front mandapam of the Perumal’s sanctum. Even now we can see the Kairavini well where Peyalvar was born, at a distance near the temple. Peyazhwar is considered to have been appeared out of a well at Arundale road in Mylapore. A huge and beautiful well (with water) of about 30 feet diameter which can be seen even from the satellite picture. It’s a pity to see such a beautiful and divine place is locked up since it is tangled in a legal tussle. It is located between Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple and Madhava Perumal temple.



Andal is housed in a separate shrine in standing posture facing east. The unique feature of this temple is that all the 12 Alwars and 22 Acharyas of Tengalai sect are in one Sannidhi which you can see in no other temple. A separate shrine houses the images of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita. According to legend, Sri Rama while returning to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana, sojourned at Mayurapuri. Shrines for Lord Anjaneya and Sudarshana Narasimhar have come up in recent times in the Adi Kesava Perumal Temple.



The temple also has the shrines for Ramanujar and Narasimha on back and Tirumazhisai Alwar. The small images of Ganesha and Nagaraj are found in a pillar. Sthala Vriksham is Pipal Tree (Arasa Maram) located on the banks of Chitra Kulam. Theertham is known as Sarva Theertham, Harihara Theertham, Chandra Pushkarani now called as Chitra Pushkarani (Chitra Kulam). The temple tank is located outside the complex. It is called as Chitra Kulam. It is the second largest tank of Mylapore. Also, it is a very important landmark.



But the present structure of the temple cannot be more than 300-year-old and no antiquity like inscriptions are available in the temple. The Kalyana mandapam of the temple was constructed in 1938 by Varadarajulu Naidu. The Raja Gopuram of the temple was constructed in 1950s and was inaugurated by Bhaktavatsalam when he was HRCE minister. The temple follows Tengalai Sampradayam and the Sannidhi street here still retains the old-world charm with tiled houses which are more than 100 years old.