Vadapalani Andavar Temple

Step in through the east tower from the crowded streets of Vadapalani and the noise of the city drops away. In the sanctum stands Vadapalani Andavar in the likeness of Palani's Dandayudhapani, and he wears sandals: at no other shrine of Murugan will you see this, a sign of casting off pride and ego. His right foot is set a little forward, as if ready to hurry off the moment a devotee calls.

This temple has no ancient purana; its sthala history is the lives of three devotees. In the 19th century Annasamy Naicker, who lived in the Kodambakkam area, suffered from a stomach pain nothing could cure. Through storms, rain and robbers on the roads he walked again and again to Thiruthani and Thiruporur. Then an old man appeared to him in a dream: "Murugan lives in your own house, so why wander like this?" From that day he worshipped at home, morning and evening, before a painted picture of Murugan in a thatched shed. On the word of a sadhu from Palani he cut off part of his own tongue as an offering before the Thiruthani shrine, the fierce vow known as pavadam, and the pain left him.

On a long-dreamt-of pilgrimage to Palani, coming down the hill steps, he saw a large and beautiful picture of Palani Andavar in a shop but had no money to buy it. The next day the shopkeeper himself brought it to him, saying Murugan had told him to in a dream. Naicker carried it back to Chennai like treasure, moved his family to another house and made the platform where he gave oracles into a shrine of Palani Andavar. People came with their troubles about studies, failed exams, marriages, illness and lost jobs, and what he told them came true; his name spread.

One day he told Rathinasamy Chettiyar, who served him, what he longed for: a small temple for Palani Andavar in place of the thatched shed. The very next day Chettiyar went to Vannaiyampathi and commissioned a sthapathi to carve an image of Palani Andavar, and a brick-and-lime building rose where the sanctum stands today. Annasamy Thambiran died on an Avani new-moon day under the Magam star, then came to Rathinasamy in a dream and asked him too to take the pavadam vow; he did so on Aadi Krithigai, and from the next Krithigai he too spoke oracles. The image was installed and consecrated, and Rathinasamy Thambiran told everyone to call the Kodambakkam platform the Vadapalani Andavar temple from then on. The name stuck.

Around the courtyard you will find Varasiddhi Vinayaka, Chokkanathar and Meenakshi, Kali, Bhairava, and a six-faced Shanmuga flanked by Valli and Deivanai; the inner round adds niches for Dakshinamurthy, Mahalakshmi and Chandikeswarar. Angaraka, the planet Mars, whose lord is Murugan, has his own shrine. The east tower carries carvings of the 108 karanas of Bharatanatyam. Murugan has a golden chariot, the sacred tree is the athi (fig), the tank lies in front of the temple, and a large hall is used for weddings and religious talks.

The first brick temple went up around 1865. Rathinasamy Thambiran died in 1886, on a day in Margazhi when Sashti fell with the Sadayam star. His disciple Bakkiyalinga Thambiran took the pavadam vow and carried on the oracles, and the present sanctum, the first inner corridor and the granite work date from his time. A major renovation followed in the 1920s. Bakkiyalinga Thambiran died in 1931, on Purattasi Dasami with the Poosam star. The samadhis of all three Thambirans stand together in the Siddhars' shrine on the Nerkundram road nearby, with special pujas every full moon and an annual guru puja. The rajagopuram has five tiers and seven finials and stands about 72 ft high, with stucco scenes from the Kanda Puranam and forms of Shiva and Murugan; three-tiered towers 42 ft high stand at the east, west and north entrances. The tank opposite the east tower has a mandapam at its centre. This is a young temple with no inscriptions from the old dynasties, and it is run by the HR&CE department.

People pray here, with special abhishekam and archana for the presiding deity and for Angaraka (Mars), for marriages that are held up, for a child, for success in studies and for good health. Those hoping for a child tie small cradles on the athi, the sacred fig tree. Vows meant for Palani are fulfilled here instead: offerings of gold, silver or a vel, a sari for the deity, tonsure, ear-piercing, and milk or flower kavadi. These are devotional customs and promise no outcome; for ill health, medical treatment comes first and worship is not a substitute.