Friday, December 15, 2017

Virupaksheeswarar Temple, Mylapore – The Temple

Virupaksheeswarar Temple, Mylapore – The Temple
The Temple is having a 5 tiered Rajagopuram facing south and it is recently built. The Temple is having only Arthamandapam. Although the temple is supposed to be very old, the current structure might have been constructed in the recent years. Presiding Deity is called as Virupaksheeswarar. Presiding Deity is big Lingam facing east and entrance is small.










The name Virupaksheeswarar means the 'one with three eyes'. ‘Viroopam’ literally means ‘Contradicting the Nature’. Since Lord Shiva possess the divine third eye, which is an unusual feature, he is fondly called Virupaksheeswarar. Narthana Vinayagar, Dhakshinamoorthy, Bala Vinayagar in place of Lingothbavar, Brahma and Durgai are the Koshta Idols located on the sanctum walls.










Mother is called as Visalakshi. Visalakshi is in the Arthamandapam facing South. Sri Visalakshi Amman has a Bali Peetam which is said to be unique in Shiva temples. Also, Lord Bhairava and Lord Surya are together near Ambal sannidhi. Shrines of Selva Pillayar and Bala Dhandayuthapani are located on both sides on Rajagopuram entrance.










Shrines of Valli Devasena samedha Shanmugar, Nataraja, Naalvar, Sandeswarar, Saneeswarar, Utsava idols (festival idols) and Navagrahas are located on the prakaram. The Ganesh shrine facing west is a recent one constructed in 1936 by a local merchant. The temple is also endowed with a beautiful Tank which serves as a rain water harvesting place for the neighborhood. The belief is that a dip on this will cure the people of their diseases. Kumbabishekam was held in May 2016.