Chennai Polichalur Agastheeswarar & Saneeswarar Temple
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| View as one enters the Raja Gopuram |
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| Raja Gopuram |
Main Deities:
Sri Agastheeswarar, in the form of lingam facing East direction and Ambigai in standing posture facing south. It is believed that, wherever Ambal/Ambigai is facing south, she specially blesses her devotees a good marriage. So, people who are looking for their marriage, can worship her.
Other Deities:
To the right of the main deity, inside the main shrine, Ganesha, Muruga with both of his wives Valli and Deivanai are present. Opposite to them, along the floor, a small and beautiful idol of Agasthia Maharishi is found facing west. To the left of the lord is found an individual idol of Lord Saneeswara which is believed to be very powerful. A lot of people who are running under Sani Dasa pray and perform poojas to this lord here.
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| Sri Agasthiyar Maharishi |
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| Lord Saneeswarar |
Impresssively shaped Nandhidevar facing the Shiva linga, Guru bahavan/Dhatchana murthy, Venkataachalapathi, and other deities in the gostha around the main shrine.
In the Nairuthi(South-West) moola and Vaayu(North-West) moola are found holy trees such as Maa (Mango), Vembu (Neem), Arasa maram proving to shade a few Nagarajar idols and a Shiva linga.
Uniqueness:
The architecture of the shrine of this temple is unique having a rounded structure in the rear side of the lord while It is square in the front.
It is said that Lord Saneeswara himself had performed poojas to the Lord Shiva here to get free of the doshas he had. Agasthiar Maharishi is also believed to have stayed here for sometime worshipping the Lord.
In the roof just in front of the garbha graham of Lord Shiva is found a snake haunting a rabbit inside a circle. When I enquired the Iyyer of the temple, he explained that it was Ketu (the snake) about to haunt Chandra (the moon god). Ie.Lunar Eclips. We can understand that there is some connection between the lord here and Lunar Eclips, although I did not get to know the entire story about it. Hence, this is a parikaara sthala for the people born during lunar eclipse.
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| Ketu haunting Chandran |
There were quite a few Nagalinga trees found outside the temple.
Location & Accessibility:
This not very big temple has its humble presence behind the Chennai airport amidst houses and small shops in the place called Polichalur. It took us 20minuted from the airport to reach this temple. The gopura is also not high enough that one can spot it from far. The locals help the visitors to find the temple. This place doesn’t seem to be bussing with heavy traffic, so it can take a while to find auto rickshaws or taxis.
