Krishnaswamy Temple, Muthialpet, George Town, Chennai
Krishnaswamy Temple is a Hindu Temple
dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Muthialpet
in George Town area of Chennai, the capital of the South
Indian state of Tamil
Nadu. This temple is
230 years old temple on Pavazhakaara Theru, Muthialpet. This area is located
very near to Broadway and Sowcarpet areas. This temple is definitely a rare
ancient temple dedicated for Lord Krishna within the Chennai city limit and is
the only ancient Krishnan temple within Chennai city. This beautiful temple follows
Thennacharya Sampradayam.
History
It was once the place where
diamond and coral trade flourished. The Jews imported corals, both in the
form of beads and in rough. The place in Muthialpet where they lived was known
as Pagadalpet (Coral-town) dating back to 1700s. A book titled –
‘The English Gentleman Merchant at Work: Madras and the City of London
1660-1740’ by Soren Mentz, mentions that the financial crisis affecting the
English market even ruined some of the private merchants in Madras, through
respondents, as they suffered financial losses when the Captains were declared
bankrupt. After a voyage to Madras in 1721, Captain Martin was declared
bankrupt and private merchants like John Adams lost their investment.
Here is an interesting mention
found in ‘Vestiges of Old Madras’ by HD Love – the Jews were chiefly engaged in
diamond trade – they operated partly on their own and partly in conjunction
with Hebrew traders of London, who exported Coral and in Madras, a street came
to be known as Coral Merchant Street. A single ship called Lynn carried
out £ 4000 worth of silver and £ 2000 worth of coral consigned by 5
firms. Pavazhakaara Theru (Coral Merchant Street) was inhabited by
Jews and Armenians who indulged in trading Diamonds, Coral and Gems.
The Temple was constructed in
the 18th Century AD. During 18th Century. In the year
1790 there was a serious riot during the Annual Uriyadi festival between Right
hand castes and Left-hand castes when the right hand hoisted their white flag
instead of five colour flag of Left hand. The riot led to the arrest of Caste
Head Men in Fort St. George. The Left-hand castes alleged that the right-hand
castes had even stopped the various castes like barbers and washer men from
serving the left-hand castes. The EIC government ordered only the flag of St.
George should be hoisted during festival and asked the Town Major to mediate. The
temple follows Thenkalai Sampradayam.
The
Temple
This medium-sized temple is
one of the few in Chennai which has Krishna as the main deity in the principal
sanctum. There is a five-storied Rajagopuram at the entrance to the temple. The
Dwajasthambam of the temple was erected in 1894 and was recently refurbished. There
is also a 15 feet high granite Deepa Sthamba. The presiding deity, Venugopala
(Krishna), made of stone is in a standing posture, with legs crossed and has
four arms. The upper hands hold the sankha (conch) and chakra (discus) while
the lower hands hold the flute (Venu).
This image is unusual as
Venugopala is usually seen only with two hands playing on the flute, whereas in
this temple, he is seen holding the conch and discus as well. Another unusual
feature of this deity is that Krishna does not keep the flute close to his lips
but holds it with only two fingers of each hand. The fingers do not cover the
holes of the flute as Venugopala is not playing on it. It is as though the
deity is ready to play, but not actually blowing on the musical instrument.
Flanking the main image are his consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama.
The processional image (Utsavamurti)
of this temple is a standing Vishnu with four arms, flanked by consorts Sri
Devi and Bhu Devi and worshipped as Kannan. There is a separate shrine for Rukmini
on the southern side. There are separate shrines for Srinivasa Perumal, Ramar
and Andal on the north side of the Temple.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at Coral Merchant Street
(Pavazhakaara Theru) in George Town Area of Chennai. The
Temple is located at about 500 meters from Thambu Chetty Street Bus Stop, 1.5
Kms from Royapuram Railway Station, 1 Km from Mannady Metro Station, 3 Kms from
Basin Bridge Railway Junction, 4 Kms from Chennai Central Railway Station, 6
Kms from Egmore Railway Station, 14 Kms from Koyambedu Chennai Mofussil Bus
Terminus and 22 Kms from Chennai Airport. The Temple is located close to the
Mannady Metro Station. You can proceed on foot to this Temple from the station.
From other parts of the city, you can take a Cabs, Auto Rickshaw, Bus, Local
Trains and Metro Trains to reach the Temple.
Location