Chennai: Saidapet houses many temples that are centuries old. Sri Thirupura Sundari Sametha Sundareswarar Temple is one such Shiva temple that is present in the locality for many years now.
The shrine also has a strange connection to the Thirunaraiyur Soundareyswarar Temple and it is commonly referred to as Vada Thirunaraiyur.
Situated at Suriyammapet in Saidapet, the Shiva temple’s construction is said to be dated back to 7th century. The main deity here is Sri Sundareshwarar and the goddess is Thiripura Sundari.
Speaking about the shrine, the temple’s priest who wished to remain anonymous said, “The temple’s exact inception is yet unknown but as per the documents of the British East India Company, it has been found out that the temple existed in the 7th century itself.”
The temple has a huge vimana on its eastern entrance and upon entering the temple, Dwajasthambam and a Balipeeda can be seen in front of the main sanctum. Upon entering the main sanctum, one can worship the Sivalinga facing east. Close to it, in a seperate sanctum, Goddess Thirupurasundari is present facing south. In the inner prakara, Arubathumoovar is placed adjacent to each other and there is also Vinayagar and Subramaniar Sannidhi in the prakara.
“The Varasiddhi Vinayagar sanctum here is special because it faces west and it is believed that before the construction of the temple, the Vinayagar was under a Vanni tree. Even today, the Almighty is worshipped with the leaves of the Vanni tree,” said the priest.
In the outer prakara, Navagraha is placed on the left and there is also a separate sanctum for Lord Vanneswarar.
Another speciality here is that this temple is a padal petra sthalam and since both this temple and the Soundareyswara temple in Thirunaraiyur near Chidambaram have similar references, it is known as Vadathirunaraiyur, the priest said.
Speaking about the special poojas performed in the temple, he said, “One important festival celebrated is the Brahmotsavam which is held every year in the Tamil month of Aani for 10 days during which, the main deity is taken around the locality. Every year it attracts lot of crowd. Apart from that Sivarathri, Navarathri and Vinayagar Chathurthi are also celebrated in a grand manner with abhishekams performed for the respective deities. In the year 2012, the temple’s maha kumbhabhishekam was performed.”
The temple is managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment. The temple is opened every day from 6.30 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 30 pm.