Vaaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore – The Temple
The east
facing temple has narrow entrance and has no tower. The temple is
probably Chola period temple. The east facing sanctum enshrines Shiva
Linga called as Vaaleeswarar. The rays of the sun fall on the idol on
certain days in the Tamil month of Chithirai (April-May). In Ardha Mandapam, Vaali is
found with this hand folded and worshiping Shiva. Nardana Ganapati, Dhakshina Moorthy,
Lingodhbava, Brahma and Durga are found as the Koshta idols of the temple.
The entrance
of the sanctum has the idols of Ganesh and Palani. In the Maha Mandapam, the
Goddess Periya Nayaki is found in a separate south facing shrine. The
name is Periya (big) Nayaki, but her idol is very small in size. The courtyard
which has both the shrines of Vaaleeswarar and Periya Nayaki has the idols of
Ganesh and Murugan at its entrance. There is no flagstaff. But the bali peetha
and Nandi are found facing towards the sanctum. Inside the Maha Mandapam, there
is another idol of Nandi found.
Another important
shrine of the temple is Pancha Linga shrine. There are five Shiva
Lingas found together. Although there are no records, it is widely believed
that a Siddha's Jeeva Samadhi is located below these Lingas. Pancha lingams
came out from the earth as seen in a separate shrine. Stucco images of 22
Siddhars can be found in the Vimanam and the Vimanam is of North Indian style.
The sub shrines
of Ganesha, Nataraja, Sivagami, Chandikeswarar, Vishnu, Durga, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena,
Ayyappa, Arunagirinathar, Saneeswarar, Navagrahas (nine planets) with their
respective vahanas (vehicles), Veerabhagu, Bhairava, Nalvar, Surya, Chandra and
Hanuman are all found in the prakara. In the southwest of the outer praharam
(corridor), a lizard has been carved to indicate that this is a Parihara
Sthalam (place for removing one’s curse).
