Description
Dhandeeshwarar Shiva Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Lord Shiva. The temple is located in the Velacherry area of Chennai which is a densely populated place in Chennai. There are lot of Tamil inscriptions dating back to Chola dynasty, which can be found around Karuvarai wall. The temple is believed to have been built in 10th century AD during the Chola Rule. The Dhandeeswaram (Dhandeeswarar) Temple is dedicated to Sri Shiva who is worshipped as Dhandeeswarar and Divine Mother Shakti as who is worshipped as Karunambika. There are various shrines and deities who are worshipped in the temple. The main shrine present in the temple is of Sri Shivas as Dhandeeshawarar and Devi as Karunambika. Other shrines are of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganeshs, Lord Murugan and Lord Aiyyapan.
History
The history of the temple goes long back in time. The temple is believed to be built by Chola Kings in 10th century AD. When the demon Somasura took away the sacred Vedas from Lord Brahma and threw them in the water, Lord Vishnu had come forward to recover them from the devil. As the Vedas came in contact with the demon for some period of time, its purity and sanctity was lost. Penance was performed on Lord Shiva so as to become as pure as earlier. Lord Shiva then purified the Vedas and redeemed the lost glory. The place's name- Vellacherry (Vedacherry) is kept so because the Vedas were worshipped here.Another story says that Lord Shiva had broken the Danda of Yama, the god of death who then worshipped Shiva to get his Danda back and reinstate him as the god of death. As Lord Shiva gave back his danda, he is called Dandeeshawarar.
Importance/Significance
The Dhandeeshwarar Shiva temple is important in various regard. The idol of Lord Veerabhadra can be seen in the temple blessing the devotees in a sitting posture contrary to what is seen in other temples where he is usually standing. Another important and interesting feature of the temple is that the sun rays fall on the Shivalinga installed in the temple on the very first day of the Tamil month of Thai. The date most probably falls on 14th January or one or two days before or after that. Inside the temple, Swami Sannidhi'sgoshta wall is Devi Durga and inside the Parakarasis Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess of knowledge, Saraswathi. The devotee coming to the temple can get the glimpse of the three goddesses at the same place. Lord Vinayaka which exists inside the prakara is hailed as Veda Vinayaka, as he holds the sacred Veda in his hands. Owing to the reason that this is the place where Yama considered as the God of Death had got his danda back, many people come here to celebrate their 60th and 80th Birthday by organising Homas.
Festivals/Events/Gatherings
The devotees gather here on auspicious occasions like Shivaratri and other festivals to celebrate them and show respect to the deities.
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