Agatheeswarar Temple - Kolapakkam
A temple as old as 1300 years exists in a place called Kolapakkam in Chennai, dedicated to Lord Shiva in the form of a lingam named Sri Agatheeswarar or Sri Vaageeswarar & along with his consort Sri Anandavalli Ambal.
The temple has been patronized by two sages namely Sage Agasthya & Sage Vageesha and hence the name of the Lord is Sri Agatheeswarar or Sri Vaageeshwarar.
The temple has had many a kings as patron. The earliest inscriptions record the renovations done to the temple by Aditya Chola in 878 AD. Subsequently many a kings including Raja Raja Chola I,Raja Raja Chola II,(1152 AD) Kulaothunga Chola III ( 1188 AD),Sundara Pandian(1200 AD),Veera Rajendra Chola,Vijayakanda Gopala a telugu Chola King and Vijaya Maharaja of Sumatra( Indonesia).
The temple has a south facing entrance without a Rajagopuram. As you enter, you come into a square compound. The entrance to the shrine is on climbing a few steps and you enter into the Mukha Mandapam with the sanctum of the Goddess straight in front of you facing south. The goddess is standing and is about 3 feet in height. To the left of the goddess is the Ardha mandapam which leads to the Sanctum sanctorum of Lord Vaageeshwarar in the form of a lingam with a Square Avudayar or Chathuranga Pindika. The Garbhagriha is also Chaturangam with a Vimana. The gurukal Shri Shankar ( 9444321725)was saying that a Chathuranga lingam with a Chathuranga Vimana is very Auspicious.
In the Prahara, on the south western side of the temple is the shrines for Raja Ganapathy,Kasi vishwanathar & his consort Visalakshi, Subramaniar with Valli and Devasenai. The vahana of Subramaniar Mayil(Peacock) is made out of green granite and is called Maragada Mayil. In between is the shrine of “Rhunahareswarar” or the lord of removing obligations. On the North east corner is the sanctum of Bhairavar. All the deities are facing Surya Bhagavan.
The sanctum wall on the Prahara has the images of Ganesha, Dakshinamoorthy,Mahavishnu,Durga and Shandikeshwarar. On the eastern side is the Bali Peetham and Nandi Mandapam, with a medium sized Nandi. There is a window before and above the Nandi on the temple wall, which I presume is for looking at the lord. However this window is very high for the Nandi to view the lord and could be of reconstructed mismatch.
The temple is a place for worship of the Sun. Surya himself paid his reverence to the Lord. There is a separate shrine for Surya facing the Lord.
The Sthala Vriksham is Arasa Maram or Peepul Tree & has the Amritha Pushkarni as the temple tank.
Temple Timings 07.00 AM to 11.00 PM & 04.00PM to 08.00 PM.
Temple Contact Numbers :9976596342
Navagraha Temples in Chennai Kundrathur
There is a cluster of Navagraha temples in Chennai, erstwhile Thondai Nadu in and around Kundrathur.
• Agatheeswarar Temple - Suryan – Kolapakkkam – 4.8 KM from Porur.
• Somanaadheeswarar Temple - Chandran – Somangalam - 25 KM from Porur.
• Vaidheeswaran Temple - Angaragan - Poovirundhavalli( Poondhamalli) – 7.4 KM from Porur
• Sundareswarar Temple - Budhan – Kovur – 5.4 KM from Porur
• Ramanaadheeswarar Temple - Guru – Porur – 1.1KM from Porur
• Velleeswarar Temple - Sukran – Mangadu – 7.4 KM from Porur
• Agatheeswarar Temple - Shaneeswaran - Pozhichalur
• Neelakandeswarar Temple - Kethu – Gerugambakkam – 8.8 KM from Porur
• Nageshwarar Temple - Rahu – Kundratthur - 9.3 KM from Porur.
This was founded by Thiyagaraja Gurukkal and Bhuvaneshwari and their family published a small sized book of Navagraha sthala puranam in Chennai.
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