Thirupuleeswarar & Vaikuntanatha Swamy
(Shiva-Vishnu) Temple, Voyalur, Kalpakkam, Kanchipuram
Thirupuleeswarar
& Vaikuntanatha Swamy (Shiva-Vishnu) Temple is located at Voyalur Village
near Kalpakkam Town in Kanchipuram District of Tamilnadu. Voyalur is in Chennai
– Pondicherry East Coast Road (ECR) and about 5 kms from Kalpakkam. It is on
the left side while going from Chennai just before the big Palar Bridge.
The
Temple
This
Temple Complex has two temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Vishnu named as
Thirupuleeswarar and Vaikuntanatha Swamy in the same complex. The temples are
currently under the control of ASI. Hardly anyone visits the temples. The
entire complex is a huge open space amidst trees.
The
temple doesn't have tower or ceiling covering the corridors. There are pillars
with beautiful sculptures and carvings found inside the temple. There are two
main shrines Thirupuleeswarar (Shiva) and Vaikundanathar (Vishnu). Balipeetham
and Nandi are located facing the Shiva shrine.
Inside
the shrine, apart from Shiva Linga there are few bronze idols (Utsava idols)
located. The other shrine has small idols of Vaikundanathar along with his two
consorts. All of them are small beautiful idols found in the sitting posture.
Few
statues excavated are also found in this shrine. A small beautiful idol of
Garuda is found facing the main shrine. The
temple also houses three sub shrines: Angayarkanni the Goddess, Ganesha and
Arumugam (Skanda with six heads and 12 hands) with his consorts sitting on the
peacock, the idol of Skanda is extremely beautiful.
The
shrine of Shiva is built in Gajaprashta architectural style (Thoonganai the back
side of elephant). The idols of Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma and
Durga are found in the form of Goshta deities. The entire temple complex gives
an antique feel. Neither the history nor the legend about this site is known.
It is
believed that the temple was built during the period of Mahendravarma Pallava
(7th century beginning). Inscriptions are there at the Adhistanam of Sri
Thirupuleeswarar sanctum. The most important feature of the temple is the
pillar to the right at the temple entrance. It’s filled with names of the
Pallava kings beginning from Lord Brahma - the creator, written all around the
pillar beginning from the bottom, in Pallava Grantha script.
Useful
Info
·
Gate
Keeper Phone Number: +91 89391 33769
·
Wednesday
is holiday (Temple will be closed)
Connectivity
Voyalur
is located just before the big Palar Bridge, 4 kms away from Kalpakkam and the
temple is on the left side of the ECR while going from Chennai at about 300
meters inside.
References