Brihadeeswarar Temple – Temple Deities
The "Moolavar" or prime deity of the
Brihadeeswarar Temple is Shiva. All deities, particularly those placed in the niches
of the outer wall (Koshta Moorthigal) like Dakshinamurthy, Surya, and
Chandra are of huge size.
The Brihadeeswarar temple is one of the rare temples which has idols for
"Ashta-dikpaalakas" (Guardians of the directions) – Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirrti, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, Iśana – each of whom was originally represented by a
life-sized statue, approximately 6 feet tall, enshrined in a separate temple
located in the respective direction. (Only Agni, Varuna, Vayu and Iśana are
preserved in situ.)
Main Deity of this temple is Lord Brihadeeswarar and
Goddess Periyanayaki. Amman statue is 9.5 feet tall. For Saraswathi and Mahalakshmi
here there are separate shrines. 55 feet height separate temple of Lord
Subramanya remains to be the best among South India’s carvings. Varahi Amman
and Karuvurar Siddhar have dedicated shrines here.
The other major deities worshipped in the temple are as
follows:
·
Lord Vishnu
·
Goddess Durga
·
Lord Ganesha
·
Bhudevi
·
Natesa
·
Kalantaka
·
Sridevi
·
Bhikshatana
·
Virabhadra
·
Goddess Lakshmi
·
Narasimha
·
Varaha
·
Mahishasuramardhini
·
Bhairava
·
Ardhanarisvara
·
Gangadhara
·
Harihara
·
Virabhadra
·
Vrishabavahana
