Monday, December 7, 2009

Parthasarathy Temple - Chennai

Parthasarathy temple is at Triplicane, in Chennai and one of the 108 divya deshams of Vishnu.This temple is about 1000 years old and the main deity here, Partha Sarathy is none other than Krishna, a reincarnation of Vishnu who had become the charioteer for Arjuna during the Mahabharata war. The main deity in sanctum sanctorum is very tall , around 9 feet in height and along with him is his consort Rukmini on his right and Sathyaki, a powerful warrior belonging to Yadava dynasty on the left who also played an important role in the Mahabaratha war. There are many Panchaloha idols in the front side. This is the only Vishnu temple I have seen the idol sporting a moustache.

There are two grand festivals, brahmotsvams here one for Parthasarathy and the other for the Azhagiya Singha Perumal which falls in the month of May and July.

Legend is that a king wished to see worship Lord Venkatahalapathy as Krishna. The Lord fulfilling the wishes of his devotee appeared here as Parthasarathy and is also known here as Venkatakrishnan.



Just outside the main sanctum sanctorum are the shrines of Rama, Lakshmana and Seeta, then a shrine for Ranganatha, and Azhwars. On the Pradakshina* path there are shrines for Varadaraja Perumal.The main deity in this shrine is sitting atop a Garuda, the mount of Vishnu. There are separate sannidhi's for Vedavalli thayar and Andal. On the western side is the Yoga Narasimhar shrine with a separate dwajasthambha. The Panchaloha idol of Azhagiya singha Perumal inside the Yoga Narasimhar shrine looks beautiful . Outside the main prakaram is the dwajasthambam of the main temple and the history of the temple is displayed on a board on the left side of the office.

Foreign tourists are also allowed inside the temple to enjoy the temple architechture. But photography inside is banned.


Opposite to the temple is the large temple tank which was once filled with lillies - (Tiru meaning -sacred, alli means lilly, Keni-pond) hence this place is known as Tiruvellikeni, which later changed to Triplicane.


Pradakshina*- Circumambulation

This temple is very close to the famous Marina beach.



13 comments:

Anuradha Shankar said...

its been so long since i visited the temple, i hardly remember it...thanks for posting this one..

HaRy!! said...

hopefully ll be back for azhagiye singa perumal and will visit then! yapa nama orrlaye ivalovu visesham!!! romba thanksngo... yenga nama bloguku epovume neenga late comer than :D !

Felicity Grace Terry said...

As always, thanks for an interesting post. I love the picture of Vishnu's mount on the wall of the Temple and can picure how the tank must have looked filled with lillies - simply stunning. Can I ask 1 question though? You say the temple is about 1000 years old, will those brass horses be that age as well?

chitra said...

Anu
I too had forgotten everything about this temple though I had visited it earlier. So this time I visited it leisurely and these photos will help me to recollect all this at a later date.

chitra said...

Hary
I am sure you would have enjoyed the above post as you would be able to relate to many things in Chennai. I had a fantastic vacation in Chennai.My pilgrimage and kept me away from the computer for long. Unga blog pakkannnu nethekke nenche,aana time kedakkale. I will try to be an early bird. Podhuma:)

chitra said...

Petty Witter
The main temple,the deities and the shrines inside would be 1000years old. The horse seems to a recent addition. May be around 50-60 years old.

Sorcerer said...

I saw a program on temple today on discovery channel and was wndering..

call it coincidence..
a blog for temples..cool

chitra said...

Sorcerer,
Thanks for visiting my blog. Do keep visiting.

betty-NZ said...

You have such wonderful photos and information to go with them! I appreciate your efforts!

chitra said...

Thank you Betty,
I am so happy you could come here and comment too.

EC said...

My fav among city temples..I try to visit as frequently as possible..the Lord is so appealing and keeps attracting me

chitra said...

EC, thanks. I have been there only twice. Good you have made umpteen trips.

Unknown said...

Really beautiful temple