Arthanareeswarar Egmore

Saivite Temples, Chennai District

God

Arthanareeswarar facing west

Goddess

Thirupurasundari, facing south

Other Gods

Lakshminarayana, Surya, Sukra, Navagraha, Ganesha, and Murugan, Dakshnamurthy, Durga, Chandikeswara, Garuda

Arthanareeswara Egmore temple is a small east facing small one with a Gopuram of 3 tiers. The lord is also called Saptharishinadhar. Arthanareeswara is the form of Shiva and Parvati in equal parts. Here this form is represented in the form of a large Lingam mounted on an Aavudayar (base) of about 3.5 feet. Ganesha and Muruga are at the entrance to the shrine. The original temple was destroyed before the Britishers period by the Dutch. The present temple was built later. The famous saivite saint Tirunavukkarasar has sung about this temple, but this temple remains unknown to most of the people today. Tirunavukkarasar refers this place as ‘Ezhum Oor’ meaning ‘awakening’ which became Ezhumboor and Egmore in English.

Holy Water – No information

Holy Tree – No information

History

The fact that Thirunavukkarasar (7th Century CE) has mentioned this temple in a hymn indicates that Arthaneeswarar Egmore is more than 1200 years old. It is called a Vaippu Sthalam.

Legend

The Shiva Lingam was discovered by an old man in a dried up tank in the area. It was kept in a temporary shelter for sometime before this present temple of Arthanareeswarar Egmore was built. It is also believed that the Lingam at Arthanareeswara Egmore was brought from Mount Kailash.

Directions

Arthanareeswarar Egmore is just behind the Darmaprakash hall in Poonamallee high road.

Stay and Food

There are many restaurants and hotels in Chennai and also around this area.

Saivite Temples