Kapaleeshwarar Temple Chennai Indian Panorama

Kapaleeshwarar Temple

In modern city like Chennai, experience the cultural and traditional heritage of the Tamilnadu famous temple. The South Indian ancient temple excites you with the rituals they follow and the beautiful Dravidian architecture. The vast spread temple in the middle of the busy city offers a place for spiritual relaxation and cultural guidance.

Kapaleeshwarar Temple - Chennai - Tamil Nadu

Kapaleeshwarar Temple is located at Mylapore, to the south of Chennai, the capital city of Tamilnadu. The temple is dedicated to Lord Kapaleeshwarar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Goddess Parvathy, the consort of Lord Shiva is worshipped as Godeess Karpagambal. Built by the Pallavas, this fine piece of Dravidian architecture is nearly 1300 years old.

It is believed that the initial structure of the temple has been demolished by the Portuguese and the present structure was built by the rich Vijayanagara Kings in the 19th century. A 150 feet tall gopuram [entrance gate] is the prime attraction of its brilliant architecture.

Coming to the legend of this temple, there is an interesting story behind it. It goes like this “Once Goddess Parvathy asked Lord Shiva the meaning of the holy mantra "Na Ma Si Va Ya". Shiva seeing her curiosity agreed to teach her. While Shiva was explaining the meaning to her, Parvathy saw a peahen and mesmerized by the beauty of it, she got distracted.