TRISOOLANATHATEMPLE, NEAR CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT –CHINGLEPUT DISTRICT- TAMILNADU
Introduction Tirusoolanathar is a Hindu temple located in Tirusulam, asuburb of Chennai, India. The presiding deity is God Shiva. The goddess isTirupurasundari. The temple has inscriptions dating from the Pallava period. TrisoolamRailway station is just opposite to Chennai International airport. One can get autos from here to reachthe temple, about 2 KM away. Etymology The temple gets its name from Trichuram family which ruledover the region. Another legend is that the temple is situated amidst 4 hillssurrounding it. In Thamizh, the place between the hills is called ‘Churam’ andhence this place was called as ‘Thiru Churam’ which had later becomeThirusoolam. Legend Though Thirusoolam means the weapon (Thrishul) of the GoddessParvathi, the temple legend has an interesting background attached to it. As Lord Brahma, thecreator worshipped Lord Shiva here; it was called as Brahmapuri originally. Presently, the placeis known as Thirusoolam. According to the legend, originally, Lord Brahma was 5headed. As Lord Brahma was too proud of himself, Lord Shiva cut one of hisheads off to bring down his ego. Later Brahma continued his duty of creation. He prayed Lord Shiva that hecouldn’t concentrate on his duty because he was disturbed losing a head.Lord Shiva blessed him and granted peace of mind after which Lord Brahmacontinued his duties peacefully. After this incident, as part of his duty, Lord Brahmacreated one of the most beautiful dancers of Devaloka, called Thilothama. After creating her, Lord Brahmahimself fell in lust with her, because of her divine beauty. Lord Brahma wentand spoke to her. Thilothama refused to accept him saying that as Brahmahimself being her creator, he is in the position of her father and hence shecan’t think of involving herself with him. Knowing this, the Siva Ganas (Lord Shiva’s parivar) startedchasing Lord Brahma, to punish him for the sin he committed. Lord Brahma hid himself, amidst thehills in this place and also realized his sin. To be relieved off the sin, LordBrahma installed a Shiva Lingam here and started worshipping Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased with his prayers apologized LordBrahma as he realized and admitted his sin. History Sri Thirusoolanathar, Thiruchuram was constructed by theMedieval Chola king KulothungaChola I and later renovated by Sundara Cholar. The temple hasinscriptions dating from the 11th century CE. Architecture The temple consists of the sanctum sanctorum, antarala, ardhamandapam, and maha mandapam. A Gajabirushta eka tala Vimanam with 5 kalasas ison the sanctum sanctorum. The adhistanam is of simple pada bandha adhistanamwith three patta kumudam. The temple faces East with an entrance arch. Dwajasthambam, Balipeedam,and Rishaba Mandapam are immediately after the entrance arch. The base of thetemple is about 3 feet below the ground level. In koshtam Vinayagar, VeerasanaDakshinamurthy, Lingothbavar, Brahma, and Durgai. The sanctum is a semi-circle,and the vimana is Gajabirushta Vimana. In the sanctum, Moolavar is withAmbal. In the outer praharam Nandhavanam, Nagars under thepeepal/Bodhi tree, Vahana mandapam, Urchava mandapam, and Navagrahas. Iyappanand Adi Sankara Sannadhis are on the Northeast corner of the sanctum sanctorum. In the inner praharam sannidhi for Srinivasan, Viswanatharwith Visalakshi, Valli Devasena Arumugam, Muthukumaraswamy, 16-facedMarkandeyar Lingam, Naalvar, Natarajar Saba and Bairavar. Chief Deities The Moolavar is facing east and his consort Thirupurasundari isfacing south. Inside the main sanctum is another deity of Thirupurasundari,which was damaged by intruders during Muslim invasion kept next toThirusoolanathar. It is said that,during some invasion, the original idol of the Goddess was damaged by intrudersand a new idol was made and installed outside the sanctum. The then priest got a dream, inwhich he was directed by the God himself to place the damaged idol next to themain deity itself. So, the Goddess which was originally there, founda place just next to the main deity Himself.The sanctum has been built inGajabrishta shape. Sub deities The inner Praakaaram has Lord Ganapathi facing the south.Here Lord Ganapathi is seen as ‘Naaga Yagnopaveetha Ganapathi’, as he is wearing the Naagam (snake) ashis sacred thread. Sri Dhakshinamurthy here is also very unique. He is called asVeerasana Dhakshinamurthy,as He is seen sitting in the ‘Veerasana’ Posture, with his left leg folded andhis right leg on the Muyalaka Asura. Other deities here are Sri Subramanyar, Sri Maha Vishnu, Sri Brahma, Sri Durgai,Sri Bhairavar and Naalvar inside the Praakaaram. The outer praakaramhas shrine for Sri Ayyappanand idol of Sri Aadhi Sankaracharya. Sri Vishnu in the temple is called Sri Srinivasa Perumal .Subdeities Sri Kasi Viswanathar(Visalakshi) Sri Markandeyra, Sri Natarajar, (Manickavasagar, Sri Natarajar,Sri Valli Arumugam Deivanai Sri Muthukumara Swamy ,Sri Lingothbavar SriChandikeswarar are also there. Outside the temple is the Lord Kalabhairava represented in ancient fashion. Itis such a rich heritage Inscriptions and mysteries The walls of the temple have inscriptions from the Cholaperiod, and Pandiya kingdom.The temple has big historical mysteries behind the walls. There is a story of a hiding placefor precious metals and jewellery beneath the earth, where a secretpath is said to exist. Kulothunga I is said to have hidden treasures somewherehere, instead of inside the temple. There exists a subway under the temple that connects thetemple to the nearby hills known as "Panchapandava's Hills", wherethe king had his palace. Specialty This very ancient temple is beautifully located amidst 4hills at Thirusoolam. It is believed that these 4 hills denote 4 Vedas. Festivals Pradhosham and Maha Shivarathri days are celebrated in agrand manner at this temple. Development in Chennai The temple is very near to Tirusulam sub-urban railwaystation. It is few km from the Chennai Airport. Near the temple area is fully new constructed homes now. There is no public transport to this place asverified with Google. One has to hire an auto to reach the temple from Trisulamairport. Quarrying: Historically known for granite quarries, with stone from hereused in past temple constructions. How to reach thetemple >From Tirusoolam railway station, took an auto and reached thetemple. Location: The Trisula Nathar Temple is located in Trisulam on theGuindy-Tambaram route, Chennai suburb. The Temple is located around 3 km away from the main road.Take the road opposite to the Chennai Airport bus stop which passes through therailway level crossing and go around 3 km in the interior to reach the temple. The temple timings The temple will be open from 07.00 hrs to 11.00 hrs and from16.30 hrs to 20.00 hrs. Contact details For pooja and other details, Gurukkal S Keerthivasan may becontacted, and his mobile number is 8056050671. Temple address Thirusula nathar temple, Kannabiran Kovil St Chennai 600043 Compiled from differentsources and posted by R. Gopalakrishnan 29-01-2026 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1810962046.3420674.1769692727845%40mail.yahoo.com.
