Kapaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore, Chennai

Kapaleeswarar Temple Tower (Gopuram)

Kapaleeswarar Temple West Facing Shrine

Kapaleeswarar Temple - Spacious Corridor with Shrines for Minor Deities

Kapaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore

Prime Deity: Lord Kapaleeswarar (Lord Shiva)

Consort:  Sri Karpagambal.

Holy Tree: Punnai Tree

Agama Puja: Kameekam

The ancient Kapaleeshwarar temple, Mylapore is undoubtedly  a beautiful sample of classic Dravidian temple sculpture and architecture. The original temple was located near the sea but got submerged in the sea and the current temple was built around 350 years back by the rulers of Vijayanagara. Dedicated to lord Kapaleeswarar (lord Shiva) and his consort Devi Karpagambal, the temple has a wide temple tank, 37 m tall temple tower, spacious circumambulation path (prakaram), separate shrines for minor deities and also shrines in the niches of the vimanam walls. As per the legend Devi Karpagambal worshipped lord Kapaleeswarar in the form of a peacock (mayil = peacock) hence the town got the name Mylapore. Sage Kashyapar worhipped the lord. It is one of the seven Shiva (Sapthasthana) temples and one among the 40 temples that have west facing Shiva sanctums. Temple glorified by the saints Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar in Thevaram. During the annual festival (Arupathu Moovar Thiruvizha Brammotsavam) the bronze icons on 63 Nayanmars (63 Saiva saints) are taken in procession.

I had a pleasant photowalk in and around the temple on 12th January 2014 with group members during Mylapore festival 2014. Some pictures from the walk are shown above.