Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur

Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur is one of the many ancient temples of Chennai. The 1 ½ ft tall Shiva Lingam here is a self manifested one or a Swayambhu.

Marundheeswarar is facing West. His Consort Thirupurasundari is present in a separate mandapam and is facing South. The shrines of Lord Vinayaka and Lord Muruga are facing East. Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur is one of the 275 padal petra sthalangal. Appar and Thirugnana Sambandar have sung hyms in praise of Lord Marundeeswarar, confirming its existence during their time. Thus the temple is at least 1200 years old. Arunagirinathar has stayed at this temple and has sung eulogising Subramanya here. Stone inscriptions belonging to the 11th century AD are seen in this temple.

Lord Brahma, Lord Hanuman, Sage Markandeyar, Sage Valmiki, Sage Agasthya, Suriyan, Chandran and Indiran are all believed to have worshiped the Lord at this temple.

One of the legends of Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur is connected to Sage Agasthya ending demon Vatapi’s life. Two demons Vatapi and Ilvala were brothers. They would slay all Sadhus by employing a peculiar ruse. The elder brother Ilvala would turn Vatapi into a goat and serve its meat to the visitor. Once someone ate the meat, Ilvala would yell out the name of Vatapi. Now, Ilvala knew a divine mantra to bring back someone to life from dead. Vatapi would then come out by tearing open the stomach of the person and as a consequence killing him. Their ploy yielded results until Sage Agasthya was once lured by the brothers to have a meal. However, Agasthya digested Vatapi before Ilvala called for him. Sage Agasthya is said to have developed severe stomach pain and was cured of the pain at this temple. Agasthya wanted to have comprehensive information of the variety of diseases that trouble human beings and their cure. Lord Shiva passed on the knowledge of the herbs and their curative powers to Sage Agasthya and hence the deity came to be known as Marundeeswarar or Aushadeeswarar. Marundu or Aushadam in Tamil means medicine. The devotees firmly believe that the abhishegam milk given by the priest after at Marundeeswarar Sannadhi has the power to cure any disease.

Once Sage Vashishta was in a state of Penance, Indira sent the Celestial Cow, Kamadhenu the divine cow to be with the sage and take care of his needs.  On one occasion, the cow was late to dispense the milk for puja.  The annoyed sage cursed it to turn into a normal cow losing its celestial standing.  He also recommended Kamadhenu to go to this temple and worship Lord Shiva beneath the Vanni tree to get back its holiness.  Kamadhenu bathed the Lord with her milk and her celestial stature was restored. She is supposed to be delivering milk to the lingam every day and the lingam is therefore white in colour. Because of the white colour, He is also known as Paalvannanathar – Paal meaning milk and Vannam meaning colour. The Lord here is also known as Vedapureeswarar. The Goddess is known as Chokkanayaki and Sundaranayaki apart from Thirupurasundari.

The Mahamandapam that houses the Presiding Deity has 108 lingams. There are also replicas of  the Panchabootha Lingams. This mahamandapam also has the statues of the 63 nayanmars or the 63 of the most revered Shivaite Saints.

There is Mummudi Vinayagar Sannadhi just opposite to the Mahamandapam, where three Vinayagars are present side by side. In some temples rettai vinayagar or two Vinayagars side by side can be seen. This is even rarer. This type of Vinayagar can be seen in Periyakalanthai Atheeswarar Temple, near Kinathukadavu in Coimbatore District and Tharamangalam Kailasanathar Temple near Salem. The three Vinayagars represent the past, present and future. There is a belief that praying to Mummudi Vinayagar will absolve one of all sins committed. He also bestows happiness and well being in the present and in the future.

There are no Nvagrahas in this temple. This indicates that the temple is very ancient.

The Sthala Vruksham is Vanni maram and the holy theerthams are Jenmanasini, Kamanasini, Pavanasini, Gnanadhayini and Motchadhayini.

 

Temple Location:

The temple is located on the ECR in Chennai. It is five minutes walk from the Tiruvanmiyur Bus Terminus. All buses plying on ECR stop very close to the temple. This temple is well connected with all parts of the city.

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Temple Timings: 6 AM to 12 Noon & 4 PM to 9 PM

Other temples nearby:

Ashtalakshmi Temple, Besant Nagar

Madhya Kailash, Adyar

Kapaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore

Ananthapadmanabaswamy Temple, Adyar

Karaneeswarar Temple, Saidapet

Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur Address:

The Executive Officer,

Arulmigu Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur,

Chennai-600041.

Temple Phone:

044-24410477. 044-24422688