SOMANATHEESHWARAR TEMPLE - CHANDRAN - SOMANGALAM

 3.Somanatheeswarar Temple - Somangalam

Navagraha temple in Chennai – Chandranar Parihara Kshetram.

The Somanatheshwarar temple in Somangalam is associated with Chandra Bhagawan who prayed to Lord Shiva to atone for his waning days.

Legend says that, King Dakshan gave 27 of his daughters in marriage to Chandran. These 27 wives are the 27 stars of the Tamil Calendar. Chandran spent most of his time with Rohini his favourite wife and was partial to her. Daskhan’s request to Chandran to treat all his wives equally was not heeded, and hence he cursed Chandran that his beauty and shine would wane every day(Krishna Paksham). Chandran to get relieved from this curse prayed to Lord Shiva here, who not only assured him that the lost beauty and shine would come back every day(Shukla Paksham) in a fortnight,( Ammavasai to Pournami) he also adorned him on his Shikhara or forhead. Hence the lord is also known as Chandrasekhar.

CHANDRASEKHARAR

Another Legend says that, Rahu started engulfing the Moon to take revenge, because Chandran had complained against Rahu to Lord Vishnu for consuming the (nectar) Amrutham which came out of the Samudra Manthan. Chandran prayed to Lord Shiva to save him from this curse. Lord Shiva blessed him to regain his lost shine every fortnight.

Somaskanthan the local Chieftain had channeled all his resource to construct the Temple. An enemy King took advantage and declared war or the land and mounted and attack. King Somaskantha was not prepared for the war and prayed to Lord Shiva to save him and his kingdom. Lord Shiva obliged and asked Nandi to fight the advancing army. A snort by nandi blew away the enemy army and they ran helter skelter. Conceited Nandi thought he is superior to even Lord Shiva. Shiva made him sit facing the East and protect the Kingdom from future attack.

The Nandi Sitting with the back to the Lord facing east, is a unique feature of this temple.

The temple was built by Kulothunga Chola. The sanctum sanctorum ( Garbha Griha ) is apsidal or “D” shaped (Gajaprishta vimana) (also described as shaped like the back of a sleeping elephant), (Thoonganai Maadam ) like some of the Chola temples in and around Chennai. It is believed that 108 shiva temples have been built by Kulothunga Chola in the same style.

This temple has Somanatheeswarar as the main deity with the Chandra adorning Shiva. The consort of the Lord is Kamakshi who has a south facing shrine on the prahara.

Inside the main sanctum, there is an unique statue of Lord Muruga in Brahma sastha form with gindi in one hand and aksha mala in another hand There is also another shrine for Murugar with His consorts in the outer praharam built later in 1935.Natarajar as ‘Chathura thandava moorthy’ is present in the sanctum. Chathuram (square) is the shape of moon god that coincides with the Chathura thandavam of Natarajar. There are separate shrines for Ganesha, Surya, Bairavar, Dhakshinamurthy, Navagraha,Vishnu and Goddess Durga. There are inscriptions belonging to 5 different time periods but some of them have been painted over in the process of renovation.

The Temple has a compound which seems to have been latest additions. Surprisingly the Mukha Mandapam is Adjacent to the Ardha Mandapam and Garbhagriha. The entrance to the Ardha mandapa is through a North door inside the Mukha Mandapa. The design is perhaps to incorporate the Nandi showing its back to the lord, outside the Mandapa. There is a window through which the lord can see Nandi. There is a separate shrine for Chandran.

Manimangalam was a Chathurvedimangalam, a village donated by the Kings to the pundits of the four vedas to conduct yagnas and poojas regularly. It finds a place in the history of Tamil Nadu as the place where Narasimha Varma Pallava defeated the Chalukya king Pulikesi in the 7th century A.D.Mahendra Varma Pallava was injured in the battle at Manimangalam, and how his son Narasimha Varma Pallava and his trusted lieutenant Paranjoti vanquished Pulikesi’s army.Narasimha Varma Pallavan also defeated decisively the withdrawing forces of Pulikesi II which had tried to conquer the Pallavas under Mahendra Varman.

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.