Description

This temple is situated near the Thirumazhisai bus stand, in the suburb of Chennai, on the routethat connects Ponemalleeleading to Thiruvallur, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The creator and the destroyer, the Preserver and the Revealer, the limitless and formless, He is all one, Lord Shiva. He is the beginning and the end and he is the journey too. The Thirumazhisai Othandeeshwarar Shiva Temple is built in his honor. This temple has been in existence for over 1000-2000 years.

History

There was once, a king named Karikaal Chozha, who was the ruler of the Chozha dynasty, he ruled over Thondai Nadu and the capital of his empire was Kanchipuram. One day as he was passing through a forest on his elephant, the elephant was unable to move any further because of it was encompassed by a creeper. In order to free it, the king took out his sword and tried to cut the creepers, iy was then that he found that he had hit something that was oozing blood. While he was in the process of freeing the elephant, he found that he had accidentally hit the beautiful Shiva Lingam. Realizing his mistake and full of guilt, he cut his arm with his sword. Lord Shiva was pleased with his action and gave him back his arm. The king went to fight his enemy and on coming back, he established the temple.

Importance/Significance

This temple is built in the name of Lord Shiva as Othandeeshwara and Divine Mother Shakti as Kulirndha Nayaki. The temple has the shrines of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Durga Malta, Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan and others. Since, the Lord gifted the king, his hand back, the Lord is known here as, �Kai Thandha Piraan�, meaning the God who gave hands. The linga of the Lord Shiva and Parvathi Devi is built together in the sanctum sanctorum that faces the east. Devotees firmly believe that when together, worshipped, they can earn total salvation and get rid of their sins.

Facts/Mythology

While the rituals of the marriage of the Lord Shiva and Parvathi Devi in Himalayas were going on, due to the existence of all the Gods and divine forces. the level of the northern part of the Himalayas went downward and that of the south rose above. Seeing this, Lord Shiva pleaded with the sage Agasthya to go towards the south. As a reward, Lord Shiva gave Darshan to sage Agasthya along with Parvathi Devi at this place and blessed sage Agathya with the vision of the marriage that was taking place in the Himalayas. Seeing this, the disciples of Agathya, Pulasthiyar and the others requested him that they too wish to see the marriage. Sage Agathya along with his disciples came further to the south of Thiruverkadu, where the scared Azhinjal trees were present. Sage Agathya and his disciples stopped there to worship after they had established the Linga. Pleased with their prayers, Lord Shiva gave them the Darshan along with Parvati Devi and the vision of their marriage

Festivals/Events/Gatherings

The festivals that are celebrated over here are: Brahmmotsavam in Panguni is celebrated during the months of March-April the celebration of Karthikai is carried out during the months of November and December.The occurrence of Saturn transit days, once in one or two years, is also celebrated.