Aadhikesava Perumal Temple, Mylapore – The Temple
The temple is built in Dravidian architecture occupies around 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) and has
two precincts. The temple has a rectangular plan surrounded by 10 ft
(3.0 m) high walls, with a 5-tier gopuram, the gateway tower. The imposing gopuram, constituting
the main entrance, looks deceptively simple unlike other such temples in the
south. But, on entering, one is awed by the interior. The Door way has Floral
artwork signifying lotuses and perennial rivers Ganga and Yamuna. Like any
other traditional South Indian temples, it also has the bali peetha, flag staff
and Garuda facing the main shrine.
Presiding Deity is called as Aadhikesava Perumal. The
presiding deity is housed in the sanctum and is an image made of granite. The
deity is seen in standing posture with four arms, facing east and Sridevi and
Bhudevi are not with him. The shrine of Garuda faces Adi Kesava, the eagle mount(Vahana) of
Vishnu. Utsavar is Sri Kesava Perumal with Sri Devi & Boodevi with pancha
Beram. The central shrine is approached through a worship hall and a narrow
Ardha mandapam. The flag post ("Dhwaja sthambam") is located
behind the shrine of Garuda.
There are images of Azhwars in the worship hall on both
sides. The Vimaanam is ‘Mayura Vimaanam’. Mother is called as Mayuravalli
/ Bhargavi. The shrine of Mayuravalli is located on the western side of the
temple in the second precinct. She is in sitting posture with two arms holding
lotus flowers and the other two arms in the 'abhaya' and the 'Varada' pose and
is facing east. Utsavar is Mayuravalli Thayar in Sitting Posture facing east. The Friday
special pooja to Thayar attracts a lot of devotes.
Peyalvar is in a separate sanctum, seated and facing
south in the front mandapam of the Perumal’s sanctum. Even now we can see
the Kairavini well where Peyalvar was born, at a distance near the
temple. Peyazhwar is considered to have been appeared out of a well at
Arundale road in Mylapore. A huge and beautiful well (with water) of about 30
feet diameter which can be seen even from the satellite picture. It’s a pity to
see such a beautiful and divine place is locked up since it is tangled in a
legal tussle. It is located between Aadhi Kesava Perumal Temple and Madhava
Perumal temple.
Andal is housed in a separate shrine in standing posture facing east. The
unique feature of this temple is that all the 12 Alwars and 22 Acharyas of
Tengalai sect are in one Sannidhi which you can see in no other temple. A
separate shrine houses the images of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita. According to
legend, Sri Rama while returning to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana, sojourned
at Mayurapuri. Shrines for Lord Anjaneya and Sudarshana Narasimhar have come up
in recent times in the Adi Kesava Perumal Temple.
The temple also has the shrines for Ramanujar and
Narasimha on back and Tirumazhisai Alwar. The small images of Ganesha and
Nagaraj are found in a pillar. Sthala Vriksham is Pipal Tree (Arasa Maram)
located on the banks of Chitra Kulam. Theertham is known as Sarva Theertham,
Harihara Theertham, Chandra Pushkarani now called as Chitra Pushkarani (Chitra
Kulam). The temple tank is located outside the complex. It is called as Chitra
Kulam. It is the second largest tank of Mylapore. Also, it is a very important
landmark.
But the present structure of the temple cannot be more
than 300-year-old and no antiquity like inscriptions are available in
the temple. The Kalyana mandapam of the temple was constructed in 1938 by
Varadarajulu Naidu. The Raja Gopuram of the temple was constructed in
1950s and was inaugurated by Bhaktavatsalam when he was
HRCE minister. The temple follows Tengalai Sampradayam and the Sannidhi
street here still retains the old-world charm with tiled houses which are more
than 100 years old.
