அருள்மிகு ஶ்ரீதேனுகாம்பாள் உடனுறை ஶ்ரீதேனுபுரீஸ்வரர் திருக்கோவில் is located in Madambakkam, Chennai district, Tamilnadu, which is situated in between Tambaram and Rajakilpakkam on Tambaram - Velacherry main road, 6 KM from Tambaram Railway station and 3 KM from Rajakilpakkam. Public transport buses, mini buses are available to reach this temple. Originally, this place was called by the name 'Thiru Madampathi' by the then Tamil Saints in their works and later on over period of time the name 'Thiru Madambakkam ' emerged into existence.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The main deity is in the form of a Shiva Linga, a Suyambu Linga (manifested on its own), is facing the east. The Sthala Virutcham is Vilwa tree, (Sthala virutcham means the place/tree where the Lord appeared or manifested in the first instance). This has got great significance in worshipping the Lord which is considered to be equally worshipping the Lord Himself after His manifestation. The Theertham is Kapila Theertham.
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This temple is more than 1000 years old, built by a Chola King by name Paranthga Cholan II during the tenth century A.C. 954 - 971, later on additions were made by Pandya, Cheran, Pallava and Vijayanagara Kings who ruled South India / Tamilnadu. This temple is being protected by Archelogical Survey of India from 04-05-1996.
The history of the temple legend narrates the event or story behind the manifestation of the Lord as thus -
Once, Emperor Sagara, for the well being of his kingdom and his subjects conducted the great Aswamedha Yagna and sent a white horse (Royal horse) to go round, followed by King's army, to the neighboring kingdoms to find out is there any enemy against him (his fame). It is a customary in those days that great Kings /Emperors who wish to gauge the acceptance level of their supremacy popularity or fame with other rulers, they perform Ashwametha Yagna. When the horse enters another kingdom, that king either to fight or accept the supremacy of the King performing the Ashwamedha Yagna. Indra being jealous of Sagara's fame, conspicuously tied the Royal horse near sage Kabila Maharishi ashram and disappeared. Sagara's son who came that way, on seeing the horse tied near sage Kapila Maharishi construed that he only captured the horse and began to torture him fiercely. Disturbed in his penance by the unruly misdeed behaviour of Sagara's son, sage Kapila opened his eyes and cursed him. This curse had the very bad impact for Sagara's generations and affected them miserably for generations after generations. King Bagheeratha who came under Sagara's subsequent generation took the advise of Guru Sage Vasishta performed severe penance, pujas to Lord Shiva, brought river Ganga to earth and cleansed and got rid of all sins and curses of his ancestors.
Sage Kapila too felt bad about his curse to the Sagara dynasty. He worshipped Lord Shiva fiercely to attain salvation to Sagara family. While performing Puja to Shivlinga, he kept the Shivlinga in his left hand and offered flowers through his right hand. Lord Shiva appeared before him and pointed out his misdeed. But, sage Kapila opined that he did not want to place the Linga on top of the impure earth. The Lord contended that there is no impure earth and everywhere earth was loved by him and what he did was not right. He ordained him to born as a cow, worship Him as a Swayambhu Linga and then to attain salvation. So born as a cow, sage Kabila worshipped the Lord by pouring milk by itself on its own on the small Shivalinga (Swayambhu Linga) in a hidden place. The Shepard who was the owner of the cow on seeing this scene of the cow wasting the milk, came to know about its deceitful nature in milking, pinned its teats with a long rod. Unable to bear the pain, the cow while moving from there hit the Shivlinga with its rear leg from where blood started oozing out. The Shepard fainted on seeing this miracle. Lord Shiva appeared before sage Kabila who is in the form of cow, blessed him and merged him with the Linga. Thus, sage Kabila who was in the form of cow (cow is also known as Thenu - Kamathenu in Sanskrit) worshipped Lord Shiva (Lord Eshwar). Thus, the Lord Shiva in this place is called as 'Thenupureeswarar.' Later a temple was erected here.
Another Sthala puranam narrates like this - Once Lord Devendran was very hungry and while wandering in the sky saw a beautiful nandavanam (garden) in the earth and there saw a mango fruit in an attractive tree. He plucked that fruit and ate it. One of the guards in that garden saw this and informed sage Agasthiyar who nurtures this garden. The sage was very furious and cursed the eater to get severe incurable stomach pain. The significance of this mango tree is that the tree will bear only one mango fruit in a year and the sage will very devotedly offer that fruit to Lord Shiva on the Chitra Pournami day (full moon day in the Tamil month of Chitrai) and worship Him. As the fruit was stolen by Lord Devendran, the sage Agasthiyar got wild and given the curse to the eater. When Lord Devendran came to know about the root cause of his suffering through Naradha Muni, He came to sage Agasthiyar and pleaded mercy on him and to save him from his curse. The sage instructed Lord Devendran to go to Thiru Madampathi and worship there Lord Shiva daily early morning when the sun rises in the east continuously for 45 days and on the last day should be in such a way to coincide with that of Chitra Pournami day. Accordingly, Lord Devendran worshipped Lord Shiva for 45 days and then Lord Shiva took the form of a Brahmin and offered him honey to drink. Lord Devendran drank the honey and got His ailment completely cured. Lord Devendran came to know that Brahmin was none else than Lord Shiva only and worshipped Him in that place. Since the honey which is known as 'தேன்' in Tamil was offered by Lord Eshwar - 'ஈஸ்வரன்' that deity was called as 'Thenupureeswarar'.
The speciality of this temple Linga is that it is a small Linga self manifested, measuring about just 2 inches placed on a pedestal which is about 8-9 inches. Another aspect of the significance of this Linga is that it still bore the brunt of the scar stamped by the cow's rear leg while moving in pain. During special Pooja occasions a silvery head cover in the form of a snake holding like an umbrella to the Linga is being bedecked. Worshipping the Lord in this temple is considered astrologically to be very powerful which will cleanse all the adverse planetary effects.
ஶ்ரீதேனுபுரீஸ்வர்
Lord Shiva's consort Goddess Thenukambal graces from a separate shrine facing the south. We can see sage Kapila in the form of a sculpture on a pillar in the front hall, holding the Linga in his left hand and a garland on the right hand. There is a separate shrine for Lord Muruga with His consorts Valli and Deivanai. Great Tamil poet Arunagirinathar praised in his hymns beautifully about The Lord of this temple -
அருணகிரிநாதர் அருளிய திருமாடம்பாக்கம் திருப்புகழ் -
வேண்டுதல் நிலை
வஞ்சம் மில்லா மனம் வேண்டும்
உன்னை வாழ்த்திப்பாட தினம் வேண்டும்
எண்ணமெல்லாம் நல்லெண்ணம் வேண்டும்
கரம் இரண்டும் உனை கூப்பி வணங்கிட வேண்டும்
இரு விழியாவும் நின் எழில் காட்சியை கண்டிட வேண்டும்
நித்தம் நின் நினைவே நிலை பெற வேண்டும்
மாடம் பதி பெருமானே.
மேலும் ஶ்ரீதேனுபுரீஸ்வர்ரை நோக்கித் தொழுகிறார் -
கால் இடறி நின்றாலும்
கை தளர்ந்து நின்றாலும்
உடல் மெலிந்து நின்றாலும்
கண் இரண்டும் இருள் சூழ நின்றாலும்
நாலும் பேசும் நாவடங்கி நின்றாலும்
என்றும் உனை நினைக்கும்
மனம் மாறாமல் வேண்டும்
சிறந்தோங்கிடும் திருமாடம்பதி
உறையும் சிவபெருமானே...
We can see the paintings of Ashtathikpalakas – the authorities of the eight directions on the upper wall on top of Sri Nandeeswarar. The beautiful sculptures sculpted by the artisans on the pillar show the skillful talents which will bear testimony to the matchless, unparalleled skill of those sculptors. the imaginary creativity of the artisans of those days whose devotion and the Devine power they have in themselves are praiseworthy. Some of the worth mentioning sculptures are - for Lord Sarabeswara, veena Vinayaka, Lord Muruga on elephant holding a cock, Shiva being worshipped by Lord Vishnu along with Brahmma, Shiva with Ganga and Parvathi, Shiva on Vasuki snake, Lord Dakshinamurthy with His consort, Bhairava, Sri Hanuman worshipping Lord Rama with Mother Sita on his lap, Brhamma with five faces etc.. - one should not miss to see the creativity and the imaginary skills of the artisans. These are really an enjoyable feast to the eyes of those who love stone sculptures.
Regular Pujas are being performed to Lord Sarabeswara on Sunday evenings during Raghu Kalam timings.. Those facing problems due to planetary transitions pray to Lord Sarabeswara. Separate sannadhies are there for Sri Vinayaka, Goddess Durga, Lord Dakshinamurthi, Lord Vishnu, Lord Varadharaja with His consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi, Lord Budhan. This shrine is considered to be a remedial sthalam for those suffering with stammering speech if the pray and offer green pulses as neivedhya. They can also offer Tulsi garland and lit lamps with ghee. There is a sannadhy for Lord Bhairava (Vaduga Bairava) and those who worship him earnestly gets their problems which are unsolved for a longer period of time resolved or eradicated very soon. Such a powerful Lord keeps His worshippers manage their time effectively. They lit lamps in coconut shell and pumpkin on specific days Ashtami days. Special garlands made of cashew tree flower and red arali flower tied alternatively in 12 sets are offered.
Regular Pujas are being performed to Lord Sarabeswara on Sunday evenings during Raghu Kalam timings.. Those facing problems due to planetary transitions pray to Lord Sarabeswara. Separate sannadhies are there for Sri Vinayaka, Goddess Durga, Lord Dakshinamurthi, Lord Vishnu, Lord Varadharaja with His consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi, Lord Budhan. This shrine is considered to be a remedial sthalam for those suffering with stammering speech if the pray and offer green pulses as neivedhya. They can also offer Tulsi garland and lit lamps with ghee. There is a sannadhy for Lord Bhairava (Vaduga Bairava) and those who worship him earnestly gets their problems which are unsolved for a longer period of time resolved or eradicated very soon. Such a powerful Lord keeps His worshippers manage their time effectively. They lit lamps in coconut shell and pumpkin on specific days Ashtami days. Special garlands made of cashew tree flower and red arali flower tied alternatively in 12 sets are offered.
Important festivals being celebrated in this temple are - Chitra Pournami day, Panguni Uthram, ten days of annual brahmotsavam, regular Pradosham days etc. Inspite of these celebrations, separate festivals are being celebrated on Sri Narasimha Jayanthi, Thai Krithigai, Adi Krithigai, Maha Shivrathri, Navrathri, Skanda Shasti, Magalir Puja, Karthigai Somavaram days etc.
Temple timings: Morning - 6.00 a.m. To 12.00 noon and evening 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Address: Arulmigu Thenugambal Thenupureeswarar Thirukoil,
Thirumadambakkam, Chennai - 600 126, Tamilnadu.
