Chennai: Situated near the Chennai airport and nestled among four hills is the Tirusulanathar Temple at Tirusulam that has a rich history behind it.
Located a kilometre from the Tirusulam railway station, the temple dates back to the Chola period and was built during the reign of Kulothunga Chola in the 10th century AD. The main deity here is Thirusulanathar and the Goddess is known as Tirupura Sundari.
The temple priest, S Raja, says that the main deity Siva is also called Brahmapureeswarar as Lord Brahma prayed to Lord Siva here among the four hills. “The four hills here denote the four Vedas. Earlier, Tirusulam itself was called Brahmapuri,” he adds.
Inside the main sanctum, Lord Thirusulanathar is in Linga form, facing east. There is a separate sanctum for the Goddess, facing south but another idol of the Goddess is also placed inside the main sanctum.
“It is believed that, during some invasion, the original idol of the Goddess was damaged and a new idol was made and installed outside the sanctum. The king then had a dream, in which he was directed by God himself to place the damaged idol next to the main deity. That was how the deity came into the sanctum,” says the priest.
Inside the main prakara, Lord Vinayaga and Dakshinamurthy are placed and both have a speciality. “The Vinayaga is called Naga Ganapathy, who wears snake as sacred thread. Those who have sarpa dhosham can worship him. Dakshinamurthy here is called Veerasana Dakshinamurthy as he is seen in yogic mudra posture and can be worshipped by students,” adds the priest.
The outer prakara has small shrines for Sri Durga, Ayyappan, Adi Sankara, Srinivasa Perumal, Subramanyar, Brahma, Sri Bhairavar, Naalvar and Markandeya. “Since there is Markandeya, shastiabdapoorthi and sathabhishekam also take place here for couples who can’t go to Thirukadaiyur,” says the priest.
He also says that for Durga, every Friday, special decoration and abhishekam is performed. Other special poojas include Sivarathri in which four kaala poojas are performed and on all the nine days of Navarathri, Ambal sports special decoration.
Also, 108 sangabhishekam is performed every year during the month of Karthigai, and during the month of Panguni, thirukalyana utsavam takes place. For Natarajar, special abhishekam is performed during Aarudhra Darshan. Apart from these special poojas are performed every Sashti and Pradhosham, says the priest.
The temple is managed by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and is open from 7 am to 12 noon and between 4 pm and 8 pm.