Senkunda Kottam - Saidapet, Chennai

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Senkunda Kottam is one of the famous Murugan temples of Saidapet in Chennai. It is located near the famous Karaneeswarar temple.


The east-facing temple has two gateways crowned with gopurams, one for the main temple and another for the shrine of Senkunda Ganapati.


The presiding deity of the temple is Siva Subramanya. He is found in the standing posture flanked by his consorts Valli and Devasena. The entrance of the sanctum is adorned with small images of Ganesha and Murugan.


Ganesha, Skanda Guru, Murugan and Vishnu Durga are niche deities.

The temple has so many images and sub-shrines. Some of them are listed below.



  • Kumaraguru Swamigal
  • Ramalinga Swamigal
  • Chidambaram Swamigal
  • Angaraka
  • Arunagiri Nathar
  • Ayyappa
  • Idumban
  • Kadamban
  • Surya
  • Palani Andavan
  • Chandikeshwara
  • Nataraja and Sivakami
  • Singaravelan (utsava)
  • Shanmukha-Valli-Devasena (utsava)
  • Pradosa Nayaka
  • Aranagiri and Nalvar (utsava)
  • Nalvar
  • Ganesha
  • Shaneeswara
  • Hanuman
  • Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati
  • Navagraha
  • Nagaraja


Valli and Devasena are found in two separate shrines on the prakara. An elephant is seen as the vaahana facing the sanctum instead of the usual peacock. 


There is a separate shrine for Vishwanatha and Vishalakshi. Vishwanatha is found in the form of Linga; behind Linga, the personified form of Shiva and Parvati are also seen. Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are the niche deities. Chandikeshwara is also found.


A shrine is dedicated to Shanmukha (the six-headed Murugan) and his consorts Valli and Devasena. The prakara surrounding the shrine has the niche icons of Ganesha, Skanda Guru, Murugan and Vishnu, Durga. Here also, another Chandikeshwara is found.


Happy travelling.






Visit my site, krishnakumartk.com, to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

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