Kapaleeshwarar Temple Mylapore Chennai

About Kapaleeshwarar Temple Chennai

Kapaleeshwarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Mylapore, Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India.
Devoted to lord Shiva, the Kapaleeshwarar Temple Chennai is one of Chennais most venerated and spectacular religious sites, visited annually by large numbers of tourists and devotees.
Kapaleeshwarar Temple Mylapore is an ancient religious site built in honor of Lord Shiva in Chennai, capital city of Tamil Nadu.
The statues of Lord Shiva and the Goddess are placed in the varna, or cart, that is brought around the temple on procession as a band from the temple plays music. During the annual festivals, the idols of lord Shiva (Kapaleeswarar) and Goddess Parvati (Karpagambal) are taken out in a procession, followed by idols of the nayanars.
Lord Shiva is known as Kapaleeswarar while Goddess Parvati is known as Karpagambal inside Kapaleeswarar temple. As per the tradition, a gold coin-made garlands called Kaasu maala is offered on occurrences when the goddess Karpagambal is worshipped at The Kapaleeswarar Temple, Chennai. In incarnation, the goddess Karpagambal is known as The Wish-Yielding Tree. The form of Shivas wife Parvati, who is worshipped at the Kapaleeshwarar temple, is called Karpagambal (from Tamil, Deity of the Wish- Yielding Tree).

It is said that Goddess Parvati used to offer prayers to Lord Shiva as the form of peacock, known as Mayil in Tamil, leading up to Mylapore, and is called the Mayal. According to Puranas, the shakti prayed to Lord Shiva in the form of peacock, giving vernacular Mylai (Mayilai) as a name for the district which developed around Kapaleeshwarar temple –mayil is Tamil for peacock. There is another smaller shrine in Mylapore, at Arulmigu Kapaleeshwarar temple yard, and beneath an old Punnai tree, which shows goddess Uma worshipping lord Shiva as a peacock, reminiscing about how Mylapore got its name Mylapore.

The annual festival of Brahmotsavam is celebrated in the Panguni months [mid-March – mid-April], where thousands of devotees visit the Arulmigu Kapaleeshwarar temple in Mylapore, for a glimpse of them and Goddess Kalagambal. As the Tamil month Panguni coincides with mid-March to mid-April length, the Kapaleeshwarar temple observes the nine-day-long festival as the Panguni Peruvizha (Spring Festival).

Believed to be one of the oldest and most venerated temples of Chennai, the Kapaleeswarar temple is the holy seat of Lord Shiva. Apart from the main shrine and deities, the temple premises are home to several shrines of Natana Vinayakar, Palani Andavar, Vaayilar Nayanar, Singara Velar, Dakshinamurthy, Somaskandar, and Durgai. The magnificent complex of temples comprises a series of shrines of various deities, the most notable being that of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.