Abodes of Shiva

The approach to the temple is on the left from the GST road after the Meenambakkam airport. The road is motorable. It is a rare sight to see the temple in the middle of the hills dotted with shrubs.

The temple also has a unique vigraha of Ganapati called Sri Nagayagnopaveetha Ganapati who is seen wearing a hissing snake as his sacred thread. We can see Dakshinamurthy as the Veerasana Dakshinamurthy seated with his right foot placed on an Asura and his left leg folded beneath him. The shrine of Devi Vishnu Durga found in this temple is unique as it shows Durga in a calm and peaceful aspect. There is also a unique idol of Sarabamoorthy, who is Lord Shiva in his leonine form.

Legend has it that the creator, Brahma, prayed to Lord Shiva at this venue seeking atonement for some grave mistakes and to seek grace and blessings to continue his work of creation. Lord Shiva is believed to have blessed Brahma and the place was known as Brahmapuri for a while. One can see a sculpture of Brahma praying to Lord Shiva in this temple. One can see a vigraha of Devi in the sanctum sanctorum. Normally in Shiva temples the consort is always in a separate shrine. In this temple too it was thus till intruders damaged the Devi’s vigraha. A new idol of Thirupurasundari was sculpted and installed in a separate shrine. Arrangements were being made to remove the damaged idol, as is the custom. At the time, the Lord appeared in the dream of the temple priest and directed him to place the damaged idol in His own chamber in the sanctum sanctorum. So came about the synergy of Shivam and Shakti. The three prongs of the weapon signify the integration of gnana shakti, icha shakti and kriya shakti – knowledge, desire and action. In this temple, it is the Lord who is holding the thirusoolam as his weapon. The temple is situated in the midst of four hillocks. These are said to denote the four Vedas. It is fitting then that Lord Shiva, who is the embodiment of the Vedas, is residing in the midst of it.

The festivals of Navarathri, Arudra Darshanam and MahaSivarathri are celebrated grandly. On MahaSivarathri night, over 10,000 devotees witness the abhishekam performed four times to the lord. The temple opens at 7a.m and closes at 11a.m and is open again between 2p.m and 8p.m.