Vedanta Desikar Temple - Chennai

By -
Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu state of South India, has a lot of ancient and rare temples. Sri Vedanta Desikar temple, located in Mylapore area of Chennai city, is a unique temple as it is dedicated not to the Lord but to the devotee.

Vedanta Desikar was one of the great devotees of Lord Vishnu and considered as a great Guru of Vaishnavites. He was considered as the incarnation of divine bell of Tirupati temple dedicated to Lord Balaji (Vishnu). The temple of Vedanta Desikar is situated near East Mada street of Mylapore locality for more than two decades. However, various shrines were built and the temple was expanded in the 20th century CE.

The temple of Vedanta Desikar is very small without Rajagopuram (tower). A small tank is located near the temple entrance. Mylapore is the birthplace of Peyalvar. The temple dedicated to Peyalvar is located near this temple. Even though the tower is not there, the temple has bali peeth, flag staff and Garud similar to that of any other South Indian temple.

The temple is named after Vedanta Desikar. However, the sanctum enshrines the gigantic idol of Srinivasa Perumal in the standing posture with four arms. Next to his shrine, there is a separate shrine for the Goddess Alarmel Mangai. Both the main shrines face the east direction. There is another main shrine in this temple facing the south direction where the stone idol and the utsav (bronze) idol of Vedanta Desikar are found. The shrine also has the bronze idols of Lakshmi Varahar - the upasana God of of Vedanta Desikar.

The temple also has the other shrines:

1) Hanuman

2) Ram-Lakshman-Sita

3) Lakshmi Narasimha

4) Chakrathalwar and Narasimha behind Chakrathalwar

5) Ramanuja

6) Andal

7) Peyalwar

8) Alwars

Happy travelling.

Fast Facts:
Site Name: Vedanta Desikar Temple
Site Type: Hindu Temple
Location:  Mylapore, Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India 
Highlights: A temple dedicated to the devotee of Lord Vishnu
Nearest Railway Station: Chennai - well connected from the cities/towns all over India
Nearest Airport: Chennai has both national and international airports
How to reach: Easily reachable by road from any part of the city; local train facility is also available in Mylapore
Hotel: Many star hotels, luxury hotels/resorts, and budget hotels are available in Chennai
Restaurants: All options - vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Chinese, South Indian, Gujarati, North Indian, Punjabi,....- you can find everything in Chennai city

View Larger Map

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

By -
Image
Consecrated in March 2021, the 40 feet high Bala Murugan icon at Saveetha Medical College campus is the tallest image of Murugan in Chennai. Malaysia has 140 feet tall Murugan. In April 2022, the 146 feet tall image of Murugan was consecrated near Salem in Tamil Nadu. However, they are all stucco images. But, the one that we find on the college campus is a monolithic granite icon. Thus, it is the tallest stone icon of Murugan in the entire world. A stone weighing 320 tonnes was brought from Siruvambur near Wallajah, and it was carved to 140 tonnes to get this beautiful and gigantic sculpture. The entire temple complex is designed in the shape of the Devanagiri letter "Om", which can be appreciated in the aerial view.  The west-facing gigantic sculpture is located atop the star-shaped pedestal. It dominates the entire landscape. A large meditation hall is situated below the pedestal. On the open corridor in front of the presiding deity, smaller shrines are found. They enshrine
Read more

Putlur Angala Parameswari Temple - Chennai

By -
Image
Angala Parameswari Temple in Putlur, near  Chennai  city of South India, is a unique temple. The Goddess is in the form of a pregnant woman in this temple. The icon of Angala Parameswari is believed to be self-manifested, called swayambhu.  As per the legend, a village head tortured a poor for borrowed money. The poor was forced to plough an infertile land. While ploughing the ground full of rocks, the villager noticed that blood was oozing out from a particular place. There, he discovered the image of the Goddess. It is a snake hole (putru in Tamil - where snakes live) in the form of a woman in a sleeping posture with her mouth kept open, and her bulged stomach like a pregnant woman. The villagers built a temple with this putru and named the Goddess Angala Parameswari. Hence, they started calling the village Putlur the town with the divine Putru.  Putlur Angala Parameswari temple is basically a village temple. It is visited by thousands of people. Primarily it will be tough to en
Read more

A 17th century Dargah with healing power - Mount Road Dargah, Chennai, India

By -
Image
Mount Road or Anna Salai is one of the most happening places in  Chennai . There are two famous Islamic shrines on Mount Road – one is  Thousands Light mosque . The other one is Dargah-e-Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi (Rahmatullah Alaihi), also known as Mount Road Dargah. It is the most popular Dargah across the city. It draws devotees of all faiths and all walks of life. Especially every Thursday, a large number of devotees gather to the Dargah. A lot of city-based celebrities regularly visit the site. This Dargah is the shrine of a Muslim Saint named Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi. He was also known as Rahmatullah Alaihi. Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi arrived from Baghdad in the middle of the 17th Century CE. He made Chennai his home and lived here. It is believed that he had healing powers. During his time, he had so many devotees regularly visiting him. After his demise, his family buried him next to his house, which is the current Dargah. You can easily lo
Read more