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Friday, November 2, 2018

Kandaswamy Temple, Georgetown – The Temple

Kandaswamy Temple, Georgetown – The Temple
The historical temple is located in a congested lane named Rasappa Chetti Street. The layout of the temple is complex. It should be noted that originally it was a small temple and in the last 350 years, it was extended and renovated multiple times. The Temple is spread over eight acres. The entrance to the temple is crowned with a five-tiered Rajagopuram (temple tower) and there is a tank within the temple premises.


At the entrance of the temple, there is a hall called Parivedan Mandapam. On either side of the mandapam, you can see the beautiful sculpted image of Vezhmugathu Vinayakar in both sitting and standing positions. At the front of the Artha Mandapam (portico) the tall Dwajasthambam (flag pole) reaches up to the sky. The temple is facing the north direction and it is adorned with a small tower. The sanctum is not standing alone in this temple. There are few equally big shrines found along with the sanctum in an enclosure. This is the core section of the Temple.


The core section has two entrances, one facing the east direction and the other facing the north direction. If any devotee wants to get darshan from the road, he can get the darshan of Ganesha and not the presiding deity of the temple. Because, the shrine of Ganesha is facing towards the main entrance of the temple and not the sanctum. The east facing sanctum is in the middle of the core section.


The small idol of Kanda Swami is found in the sanctum. This is the same image that was brought from Thiruporur. It is two feet high and the images of his two consorts, Valli and Deivayanai are placed on either side of Kandaswamy. The jewelry adorning the images of Muruga/Skanda are beautiful and superbly designed. A small elephant vahanam is found facing towards the sanctum.


Outside the core section of the temple, the flag staff, bali peetha and peacock vahanam are found facing towards the direction of the sanctum. There are two shrines on either side of the sanctum, which enshrine Valli and Devasena. In the core section, the sub shrines of Ganesha, Utsav Muthukumara Swami with his consorts, Meenakshi, Sundareshwara Shiva Linga and the Utsava idols of Shanmukha with his consorts are also found. The idols of Surya and Veera Bahu are also located in this section.


The pillars in the core section of the temple has a lot of interesting sculptures. Some of them include Kartikeya with four arms holding bow and arrow, five headed and ten armed Ganesh seated on lion, Shanmukha seated on peacock and Skanda stylishly seated on peacock. The prakara around the core section of the temple enshrines few minor shrines and a lot of idols without enclosure. Near the gopura, the sub-shrines of Bhairava and Veera Bhadra are found on either side. The idols of Chidambaram Swamigal, Dhandapani Swamigal, Pampan Swamigal and Ramalinga Adigalar are all found near the flag staff. All these small idols are later additions.


The idol of Idumban and a very small sub shrine for Arunagiri Nathar are also found near the east facing entrance. The idol of Kadambam is found at the north facing entrance. The wall around the core section of the temple unusually has many Koshta idols. They include Ganesh, Dhakshinamoorthi, Vishnu, Brahma Shasta (Kartikeya in the form of Brahma), Vishnu Durga, another Ganesha, Naga Skanda, Lakshmi and Kukkuta Dwaja (Chevar Kodiyon, which means Skanda who has rooster in his flag).


It should be noted that some of the forms such as Kukkuta Dhwaja, Naga Skanda and Brahma Shasta are rare forms of Kartikeya. The idols of Mari Chettiar and Kandappa Achari, the founders of the temple, along with the idols of Ganesha and few important Nayanmars are also found. Chandikeswara is found near the niche idol of Durga. The shrines of Nataraja & Shivakami and Somaskanda are also located in the prakara.  The extended area of the temple is called as Vasantha Mandapam. There is a big hall called Kandan Kalai Arangam located here. The temple related functions and celebrations are held here.


This temple is also called as Muthukumara Swamy temple. The temple obtained this name due to the attractive and big metal Utsava idol of Muthukumara Swamy. This section of the temple is found behind the core section. Muthukumara Swamy has six heads and he has his two consorts on his either sides.  In front of this shrine, there is a mandapam full of pillars with interesting sculptures.


The holy tank is called as Saravana Poigai. It is located within the temple complex. It is one of the very few temple tanks which has water and is well maintained. Big stucco idols of various deities are found on the banks of the tank. Peacocks and Cocks roam around this area. Near the temple tank, Navagrahas are found. A small shrine for Ganesha with his consorts Siddhi and Buddhi is found nearby.


The idols of Surya and Chandikeswara are located within the premises of this shrine. Next to the shrine of Ganesha, the sub-shrine of Vishwanatha Shiv Linga and Vishalakshi is located. The shrine of Gnana Dhandayuthapani is found on the other side of the tank. Near this shrine, as later additions, the idols of Variyar, Tirukkatchi Nambikal and Nataraja are located.