Photos

This is the majestic gopuram of Kapaleeswarar kovil at Chennai. (I can't stop my obsession of gopuram and black & white photo) I will post the colour version in my workshop posting.

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Short history of Kapaleeswarar kovil from India Heritage.

The Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai is a very ancient temple. The original temple was submerged under the sea & the current temple structure was a later construction. The Moolavar is Kapaleeswarar & Amman is Karpagambal. There are separate sannadhis for several deities such as Vinayagar, Annamalaiyar, Murugar, Saneeswara. There are several other deities such as Durgai, Dakshinamurthy, Chandikeswarar located within the main Sannadhis of Kapaleeswarar & Karpagambal. The temple tank lies opposite the tower.

Karpagambal is said to have worshipped the Lord in the form of a peacock (Mayil in Tamil) & hence the area came to be called Mylapore.

Thirugnanasambandar, is said to have brought back to life the maiden Poompavai, daughter of Sivanesa Chettiar ( a Siva devotee) who was desirous of marrrying him, at Mylapore. The saint poet Tiruvalluvar lived here. The bronze idols of the 63 Nayanmars, the saints who were devotees of Lord Siva are placed in the Kapaleeswarar Sannadhi. Every year the Arupathumoovar festival is conducted & the 63 nayanmars are taken in procession