Sri Amirthagadeswarar Temple, Selaiyur, Chennai

 

Moolavar: Sri Amirthagadeswarar
Amman: Sri Abhirami Ambal

A 250 plus years old temple at Selayur in Chennai and is considered as the Thirukadaiyur of Chennai. (Thirukadaiyur is a famous temple town near Mayiladuthurai which is considered to be the apt place for conducting Shastiabthapoorthi (60th Birthday).

The Legend of the actual Thirukadaiyur -It is a Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam. According to legend, during samudra manthana Sri Ganesha stole the pot of Amrita and hid it in Thirukkadaiyur. Sri Ganesha also worshipped a Shiva Lingam with some Amrita and so the Shiva Lingam came to be known as Amritaghateswarar (Amrita means nectar and Ghata means pot). Thirukkadaiyur is also the place where Lord Shiva is said to have saved his devotee Markandeya from the clutches of Yama on the day of his death. 

Thirukkadaiyur is also the place where the devotee Abirami Pattar sang the Abirami Antati, a hundred praises of Mother Abirami, whereby the Divine Mother appeared before him and saved him from the clutches of death.

So the Chennai Thirukadaiyur temple faces west and has a small Gopuram.. The main shrine of Amridhagadeswarar faces the east direction.The Goddess Abhirami is found in a separate south facing shrine. Both Amirdhagadeswarar and Abhirami have separate Nandi idols placed in front of their respective shrines. Usually, we don’t find Nandi in front of Goddess in Chennai region.

In the ghostam you can see Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga. 

There are separate Sannidhis for Ganesha, Subramanya-Valli-Devasena, Ayyappa, Chandikeshwara, Balaji-Padmavathi, Garuda, Hanuman, Surya, Chandra, Navagraha, Natarajar, Bhairava, and Nalvar.

A big temple pond is found within the temple complex. The holy tree and few serpent (Naga) idols beneath that are also located within the temple. There are many images of Goddess Lakshmi on all the pillars with yendiram prathistai in the temple and the forms are-
Devi Arogya Lakshmi (ஆரோக்ய லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Samrajya Lakshmi (சாம்ராஜய லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Shakti Lakshmi (சக்தி லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Sowbhagya Lakshmi (சௌயாக்ய லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Kirti Lakshmi (கீர்த்தி லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Veera Lakshmi (வீர லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Vijaya Lakshmi (விஜய லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Santhana Lakshmi (சந்தான லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Pusti Lakshmi (புஷ்டி லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Tusti Lakshmi (துஷ்டி லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Medha Lakshmi (மேதா லக்ஷ்மி)
Devi Vidya Lakshmi (வித்யா லக்ஷ்மி)

Those who cant go all the way to Thirukadayur to perform their 60th birthday can visit this temple to get that their Shastiabthapoorthi completed.


Location:
Sri Amirthagadeswarar Temple, Selaiyur, Chennai