Sunday, May 29, 2011

Temple in the crowd

As NSC Bose Road winds down through Sowcarpet, it gets ever more narrow until you wonder how two vehicles can ever pass each other by. Suddenly, you sense space. The road opens out just a bit and there you see this wall, the red-and-white stripes identifying it as part of a temple. From the peacock placed on the wall, you would guess the temple has to do with Subramanya - and you would be correct.

It is not a large temple, but considering the bustle of the area around it, the space is more than ample. The main deity is seen with his consorts, Valli and Devasena, the former's idol showing four arms - a rather unique representation of this Goddess. 

This temple is probably between 200 and 300 years old, going by the local stories. However, there are also stories that tell of Agastyar - whose image is also somewhere on the temple walls - having prayed to Subramanya in this temple. Well, you can choose what to believe!



2 comments:

SREE said...

Dear Author,

The Vani Subramanya Swamy Temple, is the place where the Sarabeshwara worship started in chennai many years back. The Sarabeshwara is sculpted on one of the pillars.

The Navarathri Homam and Celebrations are very important apart from the Regular Kaumara Festivals.

Regards

S. Sreemahalakshmi

Shantaram said...

@Sree: Thank you - that's really wonderful information. Will try to get into the temple one of these days.