CHENNAI: This temple is one of the Padal Petra Sthalams or Siva temples eulogised by the Nayanmars (63 important devotees of Siva). Among the Nayanmars, Thirugnanasambandar visited this temple in the 7th century AD. It is the 29th of the 32 Padal Petra Sthalams in Tondaimandalam (the traditional name given to the northern part of the ancient Tamil country).
The Sthala Puranam (traditional story) states that when God Siva as Tripurantaka (destroyer of the three cities), set out to kill three asuras Taraka, Kamalaksha and Vidyunmali, He did not worship Vinayaka, the destroyer of obstacles. Vinayaka was therefore upset, and broke the axle of Siva’s chariot.
The latter then, prayed to Vinayaka for his help, resulting in a successful battle. Since the Tamil word for axle is ‘achu’, this place came to be called ‘Achirupakkam’ and later became Acharapakkam. There is a temple for Ganesha close to the main one, wherein this deity is enshrined as Achumurai Ganesha (Ganesha who broke the axle).
This place is also connected with the story of a Pandyan king who was ordered by God Siva to build a temple for the Svayambhu Linga (the main deity of this temple). This king left the work of constructing the temple to a devotee, a Sage named Trinethradhari.
When the king returned, he saw two shrines with two Lingas and when asked, the sage replied that one as for Umai Aatcheeshwarar meaning ‘the God who graced you’ (the king), and the other was for Emai Aatcheeshwarar meaning ‘the God who graced me’ (Sage Trinethradhari).
The east-facing temple has a tall rajagopuram in front which leads to a wide outer prakaram (enclosure). The dvajastambham and Nandi are slightly away from this gopuram. Straight ahead is a door leading to the inner prakaram and the garbha-griha (sanctum), guarded by two huge stone dvarapalakas (door-keepers), next to which are images of Ganesha and Subramanya on either side.