Brihadeeswarar Temple – Temple Deities

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