Kandaleeswarar Temple (Uthama Sozheeswarar Temple),
Thenneri, Kanchipuram
Kandaleeswarar
Temple (Uthama Sozheeswarar Temple) is dedicated to Hindu God Shiva located at
Thenneri Village in Kanchipuram District of Tamilnadu. There are three temples
in this village, two Siva Temples and one Perumal temple. The Siva temples are
maintained by Archaeological Survey of India. Thenneri is about 8 Kms from
Walajabad of Kanchipuram District.
It is
believed this temple was built by Sembiyan Mathevatigal, wife of Kandarathitha
Chozhan, in memory of her deceased son Uthama Chozhan. The presiding deity is
Sri Kandaleeswarar. At the entrance there are Dvarapalas on both sides in giant
size. There are shrines of Dakshinamurthy, Mahavishnu, Brahma and Durgai.
Many
inscriptions found in this temple reveals the `dhanams `given by many kings of
that time and also deals with the procedure of election, formation of village committee,
members eligibility and administration. This temple is a marvel of Chola
architecture.
