CHENNAI: An ancient temple for Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal, located in Ramavaram near Porur, which was once in an dilapidated condition with hardly anyone visiting it, is now in a flourishing state and a centre of active worship.
Though believed to have been originally constructed in the reign of the Pallava monarch, Narasimhavarman II, better known as Rajasimha, in the 8th century AD, this shrine today does not have any vestiges of this hoary past. Unfortunately, there are no inscriptions here to offer a clue about the approximate age of the temple. Enthusiastic devotees had organised the renovation of this temple and the consecration was performed in 1983 and subsequently in 1994 and in 2007.
Worshippers enter the east-facing principal shrine through a spacious mandapa. Enshrined in the main sanctum is the small image of Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal seen with goddess Lakshmi seated on the left thigh and the upper hands holding the sankha (conch) and chakra (discus). The lower left hand encircles the goddess while the right hand (abhaya hasta) is in the attitude of blessing devotees. The deity is enshrined under the Ananda Vimana and the sacred tank (tirtham) is known as Amrita Pushkarini.
The sanctum for Amritavalli Thayar is found in a pillared mandapa while the one for Bhakta Anjaneya, enshrining a small image of Hanuman, whose tail, at the end of which is a bell, encircles his head is also seen here. Baby Krishna, worshipped as Santhana Krishna, is an important deity in this temple.
Prior to the renovation, only the stone images of Lakshmi Narasimha and Amritavalli Thayar were in worship. The processional images of four-armed Vishnu (also called Lakshmi Narasimha), with goddesses Sridevi and Bhudevi on either side were consecrated later.
Chithra Madhavan
cityexpresschn@gmail.com
The writer is a historian who focuses on temple architecture