Temple Visits of Parantharami Mani

  Komaleeswarar Temple, Pudupet. This more than 350 year old temple is situated off Harris Road. The presiding deity is Lord Komaleeswarar and Ambal is called Komalambigai. The temple has beautiful Rajagopuram and there are shrines for Brahma, Vishnu, Dakshinamoorthy and Durgai as in any other sivan temple. A separate shrine is there for Navagraha.  There is an inscription dated 1816 AD on the walls of the temple mentioning about the Kaingaryam of one Kuppammal wife of Baba Sah a silk merchant of Triplicane. Vallal Pachaiyappa Mudaliar who lived  here used to bathe in Cooum daily and visit the temple.  Cooum must have been clean in those days.  A nearby street is named after him.

     Velliswarar Temple, Mylapore.  This is one of the seven Siva temples situated in Mylapore and is more than 300 years old. The legend of the temple says that Sage Sukrachariar the guru of Asuras who lost one eye while trying to save King Mahabali from giving his head to Maha Vishnu for placing his leg  prayed to Lord Siva at this temple and got his eye back. Hence the Moolavar is called Velliswaran facing East. On the eighth day of Vaikasi Brahmotsavam the story of Sukrachariar getting his eye back is enacted. Amman is called Kamatchi facing south and Vinayagar here is in standing position with his consorts Siddhi and Buddhi. Lord Murugan here is called Muthukumaraswamy. There are separate shrines for Sukreswarar and Sarabeswarar. The Raghu kala pooja of Sarabeshwarar on Sunday is very famous in this temple. The Navagraha shrine here was built in 1905 by Sankaralinga Mudaliar of Adam Street. The temple is under the heredity trusteeship of Sengunda Mudaliar community and the

     This is  a Chola era Temple in Kundrathur which was  renovated during Vijayanagar period. This temple is situated on the way to Kundrathur Murugan temple on the left hand side.  The main deity is Kandhazheeswarar facing east in big Lingha form. The Amman here is called Nagaimugavalli, the Goddess with a smiling face. On a closer look at the Amman one can see the beautifully sculpted face.  The Goddess is supposed to give whatever the devotee asked for. The Vimanam of the temple is Gajaprishta Vimanam as was the trend in such Chola era temples.  The author of Thiruthondar puranam Sekkizhar lived nearby and used to visit the temple daily. There is also the story of Kannappa Nayanar on the walls of the temple. A pretty temple with a hoary past.