Most of the tourists visiting Chennai do not miss seeing
this oldest temple located in the heart of the city at Singarachari Street,
Triplicane. This temple called “Parthasarathy temple” is one of the most
beautiful temples with many special features. Apart from being the sixty-first
Vaishnavite Divya Pradesam, it has the unique
idol of Lord Krishna as Parthsarathy with a silver moustache in standing
posture with a conch in his right hand and showing varada mudra in his left
hand. As the Lord promised that he would not directly participate in Mahabharata
War, we do not see Sudarshan Chakra in his hand. In the main sanctum along with
Parthasarathy (also called Venkatakrishnan), we can also see his whole family
present, a rare feature nowhere found in any other temple. Hence this place is
called Southern Brindavana. Rukmini and Lord Balarama are seen on the right
side of the main deity and Satyaki to his left along with Pradhyumna (Krishna’s
son) and Aniruddha( Krishna’s grandson). On the face of the main deity a mark
seen which said to be the mark left by Bhishma’s arrows during the Mahabharata
war. In this temple we can see five forms of Vishnu – Lord Narasimha, Lord Sri
Rama, Lord Gajendra Varada Raja, Lord Ranganatha and Lord Sri Krishna at one
and same place.
In this temple there are two entrance towers
(Raja Gopurams) : one in front of Lord Parthasarathy’s shrine facing east;
another one just behind this temple in front of Lord Narasimha’s shrine f acing
west. Lord Narasimha called Yoga Narasimha is seen in sitting posture. Besides these two Raja Gopurams, there are
five vimanams or temple towers – over the shrines of Lord Parthasarathy,
Ranganatha,Rama, Narasimha and Andal respectively. On the right side parallel
to Parthasarathy shrine, the shrine of Goddess Vedavalli is seen facing east.
There is a shrine for Ranganatha and for Sri Rama seen in the passage to the
main shrine. Lord Ranganatha is seen facing east in reclining posture on the
holy serpent bed of Adi Sesha with His two consorts sitting near his feet. In
the shrine of Sri Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna are seen on
sides. A small shrine for Hanuman is seen just in front of this shrine. There
is a separate shrine for Andal. There are shrines for Vaishnavite Gurus like
Sri Ramanuja, Sri Vedanthadesikar and Sri Manavalar in the Maha Mandapa. It is
said that the parents of Sri Ramanujacharya visited this temple and prayed to
Lord for a worthy son. In this temple one can see many beautiful sculptures and
elaborate carvings on pillars and on the panels depicting ten incarnations of
Vishnu and Leelas of Lord Krishna.
This temple was constructed first
by the Pallava King Narsimha Varma I in eighth century and later was expanded
and developed by Pandya, Chola and Vijayanagara kings. There are many stone
inscriptions in Telugu and Tamil referring to Pallava King Nandi Varman,Chola
kings Raja Raja and Kulottunga III, Pandya king Maravarman and Vijayanagara kings like Sadasiva raya, Sri
Rangaraya and Venkatapathi raya II. In
1564 the temple was renovated with new shrines.
According to legends a king
called Sumathi did penance and prayed to Lord Vishnu to appear before him in
the form of Lord Parthasarathy. The Lord directed him to go to Tiruvallikkeni
(now called Triplicane) to see the idol of Parthsarathy installed by sage
Atreya Rishi. The king went there and built a shrine there after meeting the
sage Atreya. The temple pond is called Kairavani and Godess Vedavalli appeared
from this pond seated on a lotus to sage Bhrigu Maharshi. In this temple tank
(seen opposite to the eastern entrance), there are five wells namely Soma,
Agni, Indra,Meena and Vishnu theertha.
The seven great sages Bhrigu, Atri,Mareechi,Markandeya,Sumati,Saptaroma and
Jabali did penance at this holy place. In holy prabhandas also mention was made
about this holy temple. Saint Thirumangai sang the glory of the Lord in his
Mangalasasanma hymns. Among the Divya desams this is the only one place located
in Chennai.
The temple is open from 5.30 a.m. to 12.00 noon and from
4.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. every day. Here
worship is done according to Vaikhasana Agama in accordance with Thenkalai
tradition. Many special poojas and celebrations are performed here on festival
days like Sri Krishna Jayanti, Sri Vaikunta Ekadasi, Ratha sapatami, Sri Rama
Navami and Nava Rathri. Brahmosthsavams are celebrated for Lord Parthsarathy during Chittirai month
(April and May) and for Lord Narasimha during Ani month (June and July). Theppostsavam (float festival) is grandly
celebrated here for one week during the month of Masi (February) every year.
The nearby temples are Kalikambal temple (4.6 kms), Kamakshi Amman Temple (3.5
kms) , Kapaleeswar Temmple(2.1 kms) and Rama Krishna temple (2.9.kms). One can see
all these temples as they are very near to one another. One can also visit Bharatiyar Illam , the
house where the famous poet Sri Subramanya Bharati spent his last years of life. This
house was purchased and renovated by the Government of Tamilnadu in 1993.
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8th August, 2018 Somaseshu Gutala
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