CHENNAI: Vadapalani, situated close to Kodambakkam which is one of the oldest areas of Chennai, has a few ancient shrines, one of them being the Vengishwarar or Vyarapurishwarar temple, dedicated to Shiva.
This region once formed part of the ancient territorial subdivision called Puliyur Kottam which derived its name from a small village called Puliyur in this area.
According to the traditional account of this temple, Sage Vyaghrapada (called Pulikal Munivar in Tamil), who is known to have the legs of a tiger (‘vyaghra’ in Samskrit and ‘puli’ in Tamil mean tiger) who had visited several Shiva temples, came to this area in northern Tamil Nadu (called in times bygone as Tondaimandalam) and worshipped a Shiva Lingam. This area subsequently came to be known as Puliyur and also as Vyaghrapuri after him and the Linga was worshipped as Vyaghrapurishwarar.
This east-facing temple has a seven-tiered gopuram at the entrance. The main sanctum enshrining the Shiva Linga worshipped as Vengishwarar also faces east and has a stone image of Vyaghrapada with palms in supplication facing it.
The rear side of this sanctum is apsidal in shape which in technical parlance is called Gajaprishta Vimanam (‘gaja’ is ‘elephant’ and ‘prishta’ is ‘rear’ in Samskrit). Such apsidal shrines were constructed in the Chola era in various Shiva temples in northern Tamil Nadu. Beautiful stucco sculptures of Vishnu, Subramanya and other deities adorn the top of the principal sanctum while stone images of Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Mahavishnu, Brahma and Durga are seen in the niches of the walls. The mandapa in front of this sanctum has pillars of the Chola times.
Goddess Parvati in this temple is worshipped as Shanta Nayaki Ambal in a separate sanctum, also a Chola structure, situated to the right of the main entrance. The other sanctums are for Ganesha, Kasi Vishwanatha, Goddess Vishalakshi, Navagraha, Surya, Virabhadra Svami, and others.