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NEELAKANTHESWARAR TEMPLE - KETHU - GERUGAMBAKKAM

 NEELAKANTHESHWARAR TEMPLE - GERUGAMBAKKAM



Navagraha temple in Chennai – Kethu Parihara Kshetram.
During the Samudra Manthan, the first thing which came out is Haala-Hala the poison. The Devas or the Asuras were falling unconscious. Mount Mandara was slipping into the ocean and was being supported by Mahavishnu in the form of Kurma Avatar. The Devas and Asuras prayed to Lord Shiva to come to their rescue. Lord Shiva drank the poison, but Parvathi pressed the neck of Shiva, there by not letting the Poison to go below the neck of the Lord. The neck of Shiva turned blue due to the effect of the poison. Hence Lord Shiva is known as Neela (Blue) Kantha ( Neck).

NEELAKANTHESWARAR


The temple of Neelakantheswarar at Gerugambakkam Chennai is a small temple, without any Gopuram or Vimanam. In fact recently a Mandapam has been constructed covering the entire compound. A small Mukha Dwaram from the south leads you to a compound, covered with a modern mandapam which also serves as the Praharam. The south entrance also leads to a small Mukha Mandapam and you come to the view of the Goddess( in a standing position) facing south. The Goddess is known as Adi Kamakshi.
The goddess is said to be the first amongst five forms of Kamakshi. Right of the Goddess is the sanctum Sanctorum of Lord NeelaKantheswarar in the form of a lingam. In the Mukhamandapam, after the Ardhamandapam is the Garbhagriha in which is the Lingam with a Chathuranga or Square Avudayar or Pindika. In the Mukhamandapam is a pillar in which, Kethu Bhagavan is facing the lord and praying. The ceiling has a snake sculpted, which shows the temple to be a Navagraha sthala.

ADI KAMAKSHI


The adhikara Nandi facing the lord is a very small one, but is supposed to be very powerful, because it bears the brunt of the Lord’s poisonous breath.
The ceiling also has fishes, which looks like that of the Pandyan kingdom signature. However the temple was built during the Chola Period and was never completed due to invasion & lack of patronage in the later period. This could be the reason why there is no Gopuram or Vimanam. The later patrons included the Vijayanagar Kingdom,( a sitting lion yali found commonly in Vijayanagara architecture is sculpted on one of the pillars) Pandyas,etc.
In its entirety, this completes the Temple which would be in a space of about 2000 sq ft, without the outer prahara. But it is a small temple with resounding splendour.
Temple Timings 08.00 AM to 11.00 PM & 04.30PM to 07.00 PM.
Temple Contact Numbers : 044-24780124,9940438264,9677155245,9443107809.
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