Virupaksheeswarar Temple, Mylapore – The Temple
The
Temple is having a 5 tiered Rajagopuram facing south and it is recently built.
The Temple is having only Arthamandapam. Although the temple is supposed to be
very old, the current structure might have been constructed in the recent
years. Presiding Deity is called as Virupaksheeswarar. Presiding Deity is big Lingam
facing east and entrance is small.
The name
Virupaksheeswarar means the 'one with three eyes'. ‘Viroopam’ literally means
‘Contradicting the Nature’. Since Lord Shiva possess the divine third eye,
which is an unusual feature, he is fondly called Virupaksheeswarar. Narthana
Vinayagar, Dhakshinamoorthy, Bala Vinayagar in place of Lingothbavar, Brahma
and Durgai are the Koshta Idols located on the sanctum walls.
Mother
is called as Visalakshi. Visalakshi is in the Arthamandapam facing South. Sri
Visalakshi Amman has a Bali Peetam which is said to be unique in Shiva temples.
Also, Lord Bhairava and Lord Surya are together near Ambal sannidhi. Shrines
of Selva Pillayar and Bala Dhandayuthapani are located on both sides on
Rajagopuram entrance.
Shrines
of Valli Devasena samedha Shanmugar, Nataraja, Naalvar, Sandeswarar,
Saneeswarar, Utsava idols (festival idols) and Navagrahas are located on the prakaram.
The Ganesh shrine facing west is a recent one constructed in 1936 by a local
merchant. The temple is also endowed with a beautiful Tank which serves as a
rain water harvesting place for the neighborhood. The belief is that a dip on
this will cure the people of their diseases. Kumbabishekam was held in May
2016.
