Moolavar - Sri Mahadevar
Place - Edayarpakkam, Chennai, Tamilnadu
Mahadevar Temple is located in Edayarpakkam village, Kanchipuram district.This place is in the border of the Kanchipuram district and Thiruvallur district. The temple is protected by ASI.
The Chola period Mahadevar shrine is apsidal (horseshoe-shaped) dvitala (two tiered) vimana and an ardha-mandapam.Herefore the vimana is called gajaprishta or hastiprishta, both terms in Sanskrit meaning ‘back of an elephant’ as it is curved at the rear.
According to most historians the apsidal form of vimana is of Buddhist origin. However current studies have confirmed that the apsidal vimana architecture was attempted by pan-Indian-tradition and the style was in existence much before the Buddhist era. This form of vimana is found in few other Chola temples in and around Chennai
There are four inscriptions belonging to the later Chola period, especially that of Kulottunga Chola I (1070 - 1120 A.D.), Kulottunga Chola II (1133 - 1150 A.D.) and Rajadhiraja Chola II (1163 - 1178) are found at Edayarpakkam Mahadevar temple near Kanchipuram
References:
1.http://know-your-heritage.blogspot.com/2016/11/edayarpakkam-mahadevar-temple-granite.html
2.http://indiancolumbus.blogspot.com/2016/04/edayarpakkam.html
