Temples related to Famous Temples in Chennai

Apart from the Divya Desams, Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams, Pancha Bootha Sthalams, Navagraha Sthalams and Aru Padai Veedugal Temples, in and around Chennai there are temples in which the same deities are worshipped as those in some of the famous temples across India. Some of these temples which are listed in this site are given below.

(A) Temples of Sri Vishnu:

Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa:
According to a legend, king Indradyumna, a king of Malwa who was a great devotee of Sri Vishnu had a desire to have a darshan of Sri Vishnu in His most perfect form. In a dream Indradyumna had a divine communication that Sri Vishnu can be seen in His best form in Utkala (Orissa). He deputed Vidyapati, the brother of the royal priest to find out this place of manifestation of Sri Vishnu. After an extensive search Vidyapati came to know that Sri Vishnu was worshipped as Sri Neela Madhava, an image of extraordinary lustre, by a Savara (a tribe) king named Viswavasu with great secrecy inside a dense forest. Viswavasu declined to reveal the place. Vidyapati finally managed to marry the daughter of Viswavasu named Lalita. After repeated request, Viswavasu took his son-in-law blind-folded in the cave where Neela Madhava was worshipped. However Vidyapati cleverly dropped mustard seeds while being taken blind-folded which germinated and made the cave traceable. Vidyapati informed king Indradyumna about Neela Madhava. The king immediately set out to visit the deity but it had disappeared. King Indradyumna was desparate to have a darshan. He started observing fast unto death. In dream the king had a vision of Lord Jagannath. Also a divine voice directed him to receive a fragrant tree on the seashore and make idols out of it. Accordingly the king got the image of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Chakra Sudarshana made out of the wood of the divine tree and installed them in the temple.

In Chennai there is a Jagannath in Kanathur on ECR Road which looks like a miniature replica of the Puri Jagannath Temple (Kanathur Jagannath Temple).

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Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala:
Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple at Thiruvanathapuram is a Divya Desam. According to a legend, a saint by name Divakar Yogi used to perform puja to a Saligramam stone in this sthalam. When his devoted sadhana reached the final stage, Sri Vishnu came there as a little child and acting mischieviously took the Saligramam and ran away from that place. The saint was angry and chased the child to get back the Saligramam. After a long chase, the small child went inside a big hole of a tree. The tree fell down and Sri Vishnu gave His darshan reclining on Anantha as Anantha Padmanabha Swamy.

In Chennai there is a Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Adyar (Adyar Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple).

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T. Nagar Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Temple

Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Temple at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh: In Chennai there is a Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Temple and information center at T. Nagar (T. Nagar Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Temple) Apart from this there is a Srinivasa Perumal and Padmavathi Thayar temple in Keelkattalai (Keelkattalai Srinivasa Perumal Temple). There are many other Srinivasa Perumal temples in Chennai with different Thayar names such as in Medavakkam Medavakkam Srinivasa Perumal Temple, Tondiarpet Tondiarpet Srinivasa Varadaraja Perumal Temple, Choolai Choolai Srinivasa Perumal Temple etc..

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(B) Temples of Sri Shiva:

Amritaghateswarar Temple Thirukkadaiyur, Tamil Nadu:
The famous temple of Sri Amritaghateswarar and Abirami Amman is located in Thirukkadaiyur. Thirukkadaiyur is a Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam. According to legend, during samudra manthana Sri Ganesha stole the pot of Amrita and hid it in Thirukkadaiyur. Sri Ganesha also worshipped a Shiva Lingam with some Amrita and so the Shiva Lingam came to be known as Amritaghateswarar (Amrita means nectar and Ghata means pot).

Thirukkadaiyur is also the place where Lord Shiva is said to have saved His devotee Markandeya from the clutches of Yama on the day of his death.

Thirukkadaiyur is also the place where the devotee Abirami Pattar sang the Abirami Antati, a hundred praises of Mother Abirami, whereby the Divine Mother appeared before him and saved him from the clutches of death.

In Chennai there is a Amritaghateswarar - Abirami Amman Temple in Selaiyur (Selaiyur Abirami Amman Temple).

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Kasi Viswanath Temple at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: In Chennai there is a Kasi Viswanath Temple in West Mambalam (West Mambalam Kasi Viswanath Temple).

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(C) Temples of Devi:

Abirami Amman Temple Thirukkadaiyur, Tamil Nadu:
The famous temple of Sri Amritaghateswarar and Abirami Amman is located in Thirukkadaiyur. Thirukkadaiyur is a Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam. According to legend, during samudra manthana Sri Ganesha stole the pot of Amrita and hid it in Thirukkadaiyur. Sri Ganesha also worshipped a Shiva Lingam with some Amrita and so the Shiva Lingam came to be known as Amritaghateswarar (Amrita means nectar and Ghata means pot).

Thirukkadaiyur is also the place where Lord Shiva is said to have saved His devotee Markandeya from the clutches of Yama on the day of his death.

Thirukkadaiyur is also the place where the devotee Abirami Pattar sang the Abirami Antati, a hundred praises of Mother Abirami, whereby the Divine Mother appeared before him and saved him from the clutches of death.

In Chennai there is a Amritaghateswarar - Abirami Amman Temple in Selaiyur (Selaiyur Abirami Amman Temple).

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Kali Temple, Dakshineswar, West Bengal:
The Dakshineswar Kali Temple near Kolkata was built by Rani Rasmani following a dream she had when she was about to start her pilgrimage to Varanasi. The main temple in this temple complex is the Bhavatarini Kali temple. Apart from this there are twelve Shiva temples representing the twelve Jyotirlingams and a Radha Kanta temple. Dakshineswar is the place of sadhana of Sri Ramakrishna who was initially a priest of this temple. Sri Ramakrishna's intense longing for God-Realization resulted in the Divine Vision and subsequent spiritual unfoldment in this place.

In Chennai there is a Kali Temple in West Mambalam which looks like a miniature replica of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple (West Mambalam Kali Bari Temple). There is another famous Kali Amman Temple in Chennai at Parrys (Parrys Kalikambal Temple). A smaller temple of Devi Kalikambal is there in Thiruvallur (Thiruvallur Kalikambal Temple).

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Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh:
The Kanaka Durga Temple is situated on the top of Indrakaladri hill in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. According to a legend, Indrakeela was a Shakta devotee who did great penance to please the Goddess. Pleased with his penance, the Goddess asked him to take the form of a hill (Indrakaladri hill) and made the hill Her abode.

In Chennai there is a Kanaka Durga Temple in Mogappair West (Mogappair West Kanaka Durga Temple). There are other Durga Devi Temples at Chromepet (Chromepet Durgai Amman Temple) and Padappai (Padappai Jaya Durga Temple).

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Meenakshi Amman Temple at Madurai, Tamil Nadu:
According to legend Goddess Parvati appeared out of the sacrificial fire of the Putra Kamesti Yagna performed by king Malayadwaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai. The girl who emerged from the sacrificial fire had three breasts. A divine voice told the king that the third breast would disappear as soon as the girl meets her future husband. The king named the girl as Tadaatagai. She was also known as Meenakshi, meaning fish-like eyes. Being the heir to the throne, Meenakshi was trained in all the 64 sastras. As the time of the coronation came near Meenakshi embarked upon a tour of Digvijaya. During this Digvijaya she came to Kailasha (Abode of Shiva). The moment she looked at Lord Shiva she was unable to fight, bowed Her head in shyness and Her third breast disappeared. Meenakshi realized that Shiva was her destined husband and She was an incarnation of Goddess Parvati. Both of them returned to Madurai and the king arranged the coronation ceremony of his daughter followed by Her marriage with Shiva. The Meenakshi Temple at Madurai depicts the grand divine wedding of Devi Meenakshi with Sundareswarar (Lord Shiva).

In Chennai there are Meenakshi Amman Temples at Pudupet (Pudupet Meenakshi Amman Temple), Periyar Nagar (Periyar Nagar Shiva Vishnu Temple), K.K Nagar (K.K Nagar Shiva Vishnu Amman Temple) and Tambaram (Tambaram Vinayagar Shiva Vishnu Temple).

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Sarada Peetam Temple at Sringeri, Karnataka: In Chennai there is a Sringeri Sarada Peetam Temple at T. Nagar (Sringeri Sarada Peetam Temple).

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Vaishno Devi Temple at Katra, Jammu and Kashmir: In Chennai there is a Vaishno Devi Temple at Thirumullaivoyal (Thirumullaivoyal Vaishnavi (Vaishno Devi) Temple).

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