DHARMESHWARAR TEMPLE - MANIMANGALAM

 Dharmeshwarar Temple – Manimangalam - Chennai

Manimangalam a small town 10 KM’s away from Tambaram towards Padapppai, has great historical relevance. The town was known as Chaturvedimangalam after kings had donated the lands to Brahmins studying the four vedas to do pooja’s and yagna regularly.

The town is very significant for the battle fought between the Pallava king Narasimha Varman I and the Chalukya King Pulikesi II in the 7th Century AD. Narasimha Varman defeated and annihilated the Army of the Chalukyas. In the battle Mahendra Varman (father of Narasimha) was badly wounded, but Narasimha with his lieutenant Paranjyothi Vanquished Pulikesi’s army thereby preventing the advent of Chalukyas into Tamilnadu. The relevance of this Manimangalam battle is written by Kalki in his novel "Sivagamiyin Sabadam".

Sri Dharmeshwarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the Goddess is Vedambika.

The temple was constructed by the Kulothunga  Chola and has a Gajaprishtha Vimana. The temple has mention in inscriptions as Grama Shikhamani Chaturvedi mangalam, belonging to Kundrathur Naadu,in Jayamkonda Chozha Mandalam.

The Temple is built on a huge acreage of land, with vast open space, well compounded as it is under the aegis of Archeology Department. There is a huge Peepal tree on the grounds. Below this tree is a stone with engravings of two entwined Nagas with a lingam under their hoods. At the end of this ground is the entrance to an outer prahara( this is not a complete Prahara as circumbulation of the temple is not possible). Adjascent to the entrance is a Pond or Theertham. In this prahara is the Shrine of the goddess Vedambigai, a Nandi & a Peetham. The Amman shrine is without a Vimana. The outer prahara including the Vedambigai shrine is constructed during the later Pandya period. There are contributions from the Vijayanagara Kingdom.

The entrance to the temple is through the eastern door from the outer prahara. In the Inner prahara , 5 steps lead to a hall with 4 central pillar’s, which have great sculptures ( animals including Monkeys,Lions,Elephants & Annam apart from a sculpture showing Kamadhenu showring a linga with its mild directly from its udder) from the yore. The entrance to the Mukhamandapa is from the South with sculptures of Vinayaka & Murugan adorning the walls.  Inside on one side is the lord facing east and on another side is a small Nandi facing the lord, which is the Adhigara Nandi which is placed almost at the end of the Mukha Mandapa. The Nandi is supposed to produce metallic sounds when stricken.( however I could not verify this). The peetham and the Nandi in the outer Praharam could be a later addition. In the Mukhamandapa there is beautifully designed window with 12 holes. From the Mukhamandapa is the Ardhamandapa attached to the Garbha Griha and is not partitioned. The Lord showers the Bhaktas with divine grace. In the inner prahara at the South western corner is the idol of Ganesha below the Sthala Vriksha. There are other shrines dedicated to the Prahara devatas.

When we say Gajaprishtha, it can be the Gajaprishtha Garbhagriha or/and the Gajaprishtha Vimana.  In this temple the Vimana is Gajaprishtha. The Garbhagriha is Rectangular and not apsidal.

The temple is under renovation and everything is covered with cloths for protection. One localite told me that, because of the construction activity, pooja is not being conducted and hence visiting the temple now will be a disappointment. But once ASI completes the renovation, I am sure this will be a temple not to be missed, if you are a Shiva Bhakta. I Would definitely love to  visit this temple post renovation.