Chennakesava Perumal Temple, George Town – The Temple
The east facing temple has a
big front side mandapam with common (with adjacent Siva temple) temple tank in
front. This mandapam has few pillars with some beautiful carvings. There are
many shops, mostly photo frame shops, are located in this mandapam. There
is no tower for this temple. Instead, a lintel with the images of Vishnu and
his two consorts are found at the entrance. It is a neat structure along with
the adjacent temple of Chenna Malleeswarar.
The Temple tank and the
Chariot are shared by both Sri Chenna Malleeswarar Temple and Chenna
Kesava Perumal temple. There is an interlinking passage between these two
temples. Presiding Deity is called as Chenna
Kesava Perumal. The east facing
sanctum enshrines the small images of Chenna Kesava Perumal in the standing
posture. He is found along with his two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi.
The flag staff, bali peetha
and Garuda are found in the courtyard facing towards the direction of the
sanctum. The front side mandapam that is located exterior to the Maha Mandapam
has a lot of pillars with interesting sculptures. Mother is called as Chenkamala Valli Thayar. She is found in a separate east facing shrine in the
prakara. There are few beautiful mural paintings found in Maha Mandapam. There
are six east facing sub-shrines located in this area. They are Alavandar, Senai
Mudali, Periyalvar, Mudaliyandan, Koorathalwan and Ramanujar.
There is a shrine of big and beautiful Kodanda Rama along with Sita and Lakshman is found
in the prakara. Opposite to this shrine, Hanuman with folded hands is found in
a separate sub-shrine. Andal, Venu Gopala with his consorts Rukmini and Bhama
and Sudarshan with Narsimha on his back are some of the prominent deities, each
located in different sub-shrines in this temple. The mandapam where Andal's
shrine is located is called as Kili Mandapam, where the sculptures of beautiful
parrots are found.
There are shrines of Poigai
Alwar, Pei Alwar and Bhootat Alwar, Tirumazhisai Alwar, Kulasekhara Alwar, Tondaradipodi
Alwar, Tiruppan Alwar, Tirumangai Alwar, Bhattar, Nambi and Vedanta Desikar can
be found near Kodanda Ram shrine. Also, 4 pillared mandap with beautiful
sculptures, Rama Padam and Vaikuntha Vasal can be found near Kodanda Ram shrine.
Shrines of Manavala Mamuni, Pillai
Lokacharya, Madurakavi Alwar, Nammalvar, Nathamuni and Kannadi Arai (Room full
of mirror) can be found at the north-east corner of the temple. There are many
attractive and interesting carvings on the pillars all over the temple. During
annual Brahmotsavam at Thirupathi the Umbrellas will be taken from this
temple in a procession.
