Mylapore Vaaleeswarar Temple, Chennai

Address

G N Street, Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004

Phone: +91 44 2498 1893

Moolavar

Vaaleeswarar

Amman

Kamtachi

Introduction

Valeeswarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the Valeeswarar Koil Street in Mylapore in Chennai City of Tamilnadu. The Temple is located opposite to Kaaraneeswarar Temple and Kolavizhi Amman Temple. Vaaleeswarar Temple is fifth of Saptha Sthana (Seven) Shiva temples of Mylapore, the temples worshiped by seven great sages. Legends state that Sage Gautama worshiped here.

Puranic Significance

Vaali performed penance here: Vaali performed a penance and got a boon from Shiva that he will get 50% of his opponent’s strength when he faces them in a battle. So, no one could defeat him. This is the Sathru Samhara Sthalam. Vaali got all his powers after his tapas towards Easwaran here. Hence, the deity is named after him as Vaaleeswarar. Vaali’s idol is also installed here.

Lord Hanuman worshipped Lord Shiva here: Legend has it that due to a curse, Lord Hanuman was not aware of his own strength and power and to overcome that he worshipped Sri Valeeswarar.

Sage Govardana installed the Shiva Linga here: It is also believed that a Rishi named Govardana installed the Shiva Linga originally.

Pancha Lingams: Pancha lingams came out from the earth as seen in a separate shrine which is an appropriate place for meditation. Sage Gautama worshipped Lord Shiva here: Sage Gautama worshipped Lord Shiva here.

Special Features

The temple is said to be more than 1300 years old. The east facing temple has narrow entrance and has no tower. The temple is probably Chola period temple. The east facing sanctum enshrines Shiva Linga called as Vaaleeswarar. The rays of the sun fall on the idol on certain days in the Tamil month of Chithirai (April-May). In Ardha Mandapam, Vaali is found with this hand folded and worshiping Shiva. Nardana Ganapati, Dhakshina Moorthy, Lingodhbava, Brahma and Durga are found as the Koshta idols of the temple.

The entrance of the sanctum has the idols of Ganesh and Palani. In the Maha Mandapam, the Goddess Periya Nayaki is found in a separate south facing shrine.The name is Periya (big) Nayaki, but her idol is very small in size. The courtyard which has both the shrines of Vaaleeswarar and Periya Nayaki has the idols of Ganesh and Murugan at its entrance.There is no flagstaff. But the bali peetha and Nandi are found facing towards the sanctum. Inside the Maha Mandapam, there is another idol of Nandi found.

Another important shrine of the temple is Pancha Linga shrine. There are five Shiva Lingas found together. Although there are no records, it is widely believed that a Siddha’s Jeeva Samadhi is located below these Lingas. Pancha lingams came out from the earth as seen in a separate shrine. Stucco images of 22 Siddhars can be found in the Vimanam and the Vimanam is of North Indian style.

The sub shrines of Ganesha, Nataraja, Sivagami, Chandikeswarar, Vishnu, Durga, Subramanya-ValliDevasena, Ayyappa, Arunagirinathar, Saneeswarar, Navagrahas (nine planets) with their respective vahanas (vehicles), Veerabhagu, Bhairava, Nalvar, Surya, Chandra and Hanuman are all found in the prakara. In the southwest of the outer praharam (corridor), a lizard has been carved to indicate that this is a Parihara Sthalam (place for removing one’s curse).

Belief

People pray for release from sins, for wisdom and intelligence, and remedy from the adverse planetary effects of Shani (Saturn). Married and pregnant women offer bangles to the Goddess before they wear them. They believe the prayer would ensure safe delivery of the child. They also pray to the mother for relief from adverse planetary effects from affecting their children. It is the faith of devotees that prayer to Lord Valeeswarar would reward them with a satisfied life and salvation at the end. Sri Valeeswarar is the Lord of strength and power. According to the Puranas, if you worship Sri Valeeswarar you will get good physical and mental health and pure heart. For protection women should worship Valeeswarar and children to get courage, respectively.

References:

https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2017/12/vaaleeswarar-temple-mylapore-chennai.html