Sampangi Pitchaaleeswarar Temple, Arani, Thiruvallur
Sampangi Pitchaaleeswarar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Arani Village in Thiruvallur District of Tamilnadu. The place is situated on the banks of Arani River. Presiding Deity is called as Sampangi Pitchaaleeswarar and Mother is called as Sivakamavalli. This place was also called as Vamadhevapuram in ancient days.
Lord Shiva has 5 faces; Isanam, Thatpurusham, Vaamadevam, Sathyojaatham and Agoram. There are 5 ancient Shiva temples on the banks of Kosasthalaiyar (Brahmaranya River) representing the 5 faces of Lord Shiva and this is one of them representing the Vaamadevam face of Lord Shiva.
The other 4 being are;
Legends
For brief details, please refer below link;
http://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2018/05/sampangi-pitchaaleeswarar-temple-arani-legends.html
History
This temple is believed to be very ancient and is said to be over 2000 years old. This town happens to be the birth place of Shri. Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathy (Bala Periyava). The same house has been acquired by the Kanchi mutt and an Adi Shankara temple has been constructed here, there are a devoted Bhaktha family staying here taking care of the temple.
The Temple
This is an east facing temple with three tiered Rajagopuram. There is an elegant Dwajasthambam facing the sanctum. There is an ancient Nandhi Mandapam where Sri Nandhigeswarar is present, facing the Lord towards the sanctum. There is a spacious ‘Thirukalyana Mandapam’ on the right-hand side after the Rajagopuram, where the God’s wedding is performed. Presiding Deity is called as Sampangi Pitchaaleeswarar. He is housed inside the sanctum, facing east.
Ganapathy, Dakshina Moorthy, Mahavishnu, Brahma, and Durga are the niche idols situated on the sanctum walls. Mother is called as Sivakamavalli. Mother shrine is situated adjacent to the sanctum. Natarajar is present just outside the sanctum, facing south. There is also a small peetam outside the sanctum, where Sri Ambal’s Paadham (Goddess’ feet) is present, which is very rare. The outer prakaram has a very large space with shrines for many other deities.
Sri Ganapathy is present on the southern side of the sanctum facing north. There is a separate shrine for Lord Ayyappan which is present behind the sanctum (western side) facing east. Also, there are shrines for Sri Annamalaiyar and Sri Kalahastheeswarar adjacent on the western side. Rahu and Kethu combined together have a separate shrine in this temple. Also, there is a shrine for Sani Bhagwan on the eastern side, facing west.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 200 meters from Old Arani Bus Stop, 400 meters Arani Bus Stop, 7 Kms from Chinnambedu, 11 Kms from Kavaraippettai Railway Station, 5 Kms from Periyapalayam, 14 Kms from Gummudipoondi, 16 Kms from Gummudipoondi Railway Station, 15 Kms from Ponneri, 14 Kms from Thatchoor, 35 Kms from Thiruvallur, 41 Kms from Chennai and 54 Kms from Chennai Airport. To reach Arani, one has to cross Red Hills from Chennai and take the road towards Gummidipoondi. Local Buses are available from Ponneri and Periyapalayam.