Kapaleeshwarar Temple
Now is the time for me to write about the very famous Hindu Temple - The Kapaleeshwarar temple
This is one of it kind which attracts a lot of worshippers as well as tourists to Chennai - both Hindus and Non Hindus and is Mylapore, - a residential area very close to the sea shore. The original 8th century Shiva temple was built by the Pallavas and located on the shore but it was destroyed by the Portuguese and was re-built 300 years later.
Almost all the Ancient temples are masterpieces of Civil Engineering, each one having some form of fame associated with it. The Temples becomes the center piece of action and all the four sides are named after the four directions. The temple entrances are always very grand and it is believed that the Gopuram, as the main entrance is called, should be the tallest and even if one sights the Gopuram, one is sure to get God/s blessings.
True to form, the Gopuram is a very tall structure and contains lot of scenes from ancient lore depicting some stories of how each God was formed, how the God or Goddess comes to the rescue of their ardent followers. One of the tabloid depicts the ancient story whose bottom line - For a child the parents are the World by showing how Siva Parvati and their 2 sons are engaged in that story. At one time, Siva gets a Mango, who is supposed to be a a very rare and blessed fruit and which needs to eaten by only one person (no sharing allowed). so he gives to parvati who wants to give to her Children. Out of the 2 children who should get it becomes a debating point. So Siva keeps a test saying that whoever comes around the World first will get it. The younger of the two, Muruga, immediately takes off on his Peacock and starts going round the world. The older and wiser son, Ganesha - goes to his parents and asks a poser -My Dear Parents, tell me for a small child like me what do parents stand for. Immediately, both the parents answer that for a small child, his parents are the world. hearing this answer, he goes around his parents and very proudly tell them that he is the first one to go around the world and so gets the Mango. Like this I can keep on going on about the various fables that are depicted all around the temple.
Coming to the facts about the temple - The presiding deity of this temple is a form of Shiva called Kapaleeshwarar. The form of Shiva's wife Parvati at this temple is called Karpagambal (from the Tamil for "goddess of the wish-yielding tree. A legend associated with this temple is that Shiva's wife Parvati was distracted by a peacock and did not hear him call out to her. Annoyed, Shiva turned her into a peahen and sent her to earth. The peahen arrived at this temple and performed tapas (penance), and was eventually accepted again by Shiva. A temple was then built around the location of the peahen's tapas, and the place was named "Mayilapur" (Tamil: mayil: peacock, peahen; pur: generic place ending, like "-ville"), which was later anglicized to Mylapore.
A wonderful place filled with Godliness and Hopes and a vivid and a tall structure which stands for all what Hinduism is all about - Sharing, Caring, Community Work ship, - A must see place for all the visitors to Madras
This is one of it kind which attracts a lot of worshippers as well as tourists to Chennai - both Hindus and Non Hindus and is Mylapore, - a residential area very close to the sea shore. The original 8th century Shiva temple was built by the Pallavas and located on the shore but it was destroyed by the Portuguese and was re-built 300 years later.
Almost all the Ancient temples are masterpieces of Civil Engineering, each one having some form of fame associated with it. The Temples becomes the center piece of action and all the four sides are named after the four directions. The temple entrances are always very grand and it is believed that the Gopuram, as the main entrance is called, should be the tallest and even if one sights the Gopuram, one is sure to get God/s blessings.
True to form, the Gopuram is a very tall structure and contains lot of scenes from ancient lore depicting some stories of how each God was formed, how the God or Goddess comes to the rescue of their ardent followers. One of the tabloid depicts the ancient story whose bottom line - For a child the parents are the World by showing how Siva Parvati and their 2 sons are engaged in that story. At one time, Siva gets a Mango, who is supposed to be a a very rare and blessed fruit and which needs to eaten by only one person (no sharing allowed). so he gives to parvati who wants to give to her Children. Out of the 2 children who should get it becomes a debating point. So Siva keeps a test saying that whoever comes around the World first will get it. The younger of the two, Muruga, immediately takes off on his Peacock and starts going round the world. The older and wiser son, Ganesha - goes to his parents and asks a poser -My Dear Parents, tell me for a small child like me what do parents stand for. Immediately, both the parents answer that for a small child, his parents are the world. hearing this answer, he goes around his parents and very proudly tell them that he is the first one to go around the world and so gets the Mango. Like this I can keep on going on about the various fables that are depicted all around the temple.
Coming to the facts about the temple - The presiding deity of this temple is a form of Shiva called Kapaleeshwarar. The form of Shiva's wife Parvati at this temple is called Karpagambal (from the Tamil for "goddess of the wish-yielding tree. A legend associated with this temple is that Shiva's wife Parvati was distracted by a peacock and did not hear him call out to her. Annoyed, Shiva turned her into a peahen and sent her to earth. The peahen arrived at this temple and performed tapas (penance), and was eventually accepted again by Shiva. A temple was then built around the location of the peahen's tapas, and the place was named "Mayilapur" (Tamil: mayil: peacock, peahen; pur: generic place ending, like "-ville"), which was later anglicized to Mylapore.
A wonderful place filled with Godliness and Hopes and a vivid and a tall structure which stands for all what Hinduism is all about - Sharing, Caring, Community Work ship, - A must see place for all the visitors to Madras
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