Of true knowledge and bliss
Lord Narasimha with His Consort
THE LORD Lakshmi Nrisimha Temple, situated off the NH-45 opposite Ford Car Factory at Maraimalai Nagar, is 50 km from Chennai. Though the temple was constructed in the 1990s, the deity enshrined here has an ancient history.
The Lakshmi Nrisimhaswami Moolavar idol, which is the presiding deity of this temple, was excavated in the presence of the then District Collector of Chingleput and the Archaeological authorities in 1990. It is estimated to be about 1,300 years old, probably of the Pallava era.
Lord Nrisimha is believed to have appeared in the dream of the temple priest Srinivasa Ragavan and his wife Choodamani Ammal and given directions to the place of his presence underground. According to them, the deity was worshipped by Viswamitra before he turned a sage, when he was well-known as King Kowsika, which dates back to Thretha Yuga.
The temple, constructed by the priest and his wife, now stands on a four-ground plot at Vivekananda Nagar, Maraimalai Nagar. Built with the help of their resources and contributions from a few devotees, the temple is in perfect accordance with the Agama Sastras as dictated by Brigu Muni, a sage of the Dwapara Yuga.
The basement of the temple has 248 chakras on which the Moolasthanam of the Lord, Sathyagnana Perumal and His Consort, Anandavalli Thayar, has been built, along with the Ardhamandapam, the one immediately around the Moolasthanam.
True to the names, the deities are a personification of true knowledge and bliss. The devotees' prayers are answered instantly, it is believed, on visiting the temple. Maraimalai Nagar is well connected both by road and rail. Buses and trains plying from Tambaram to Chingleput stop at this point.
