The Mylapore Anjaneyar Devasthanam, commonly known as the Luz Anjaneya Temple, is the oldest temple of

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

in the city of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is located in the neighbourhood of Mylapore in the area known as Luz.

History

The Luz Anjaneya temple was constructed by Salivahana Chettiars from

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

who migrated and settled down in Mylapore in the 18th century. With land granted by the Nawab of the Carnatic, the Chettiars constructed two

Vinayaga Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

temples. While digging a well, they found the self-manifested idol of the Hindu god Hanuman. As a result, they constructed a Hanuman temple on the spot. A shrine to the Hindu god

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

was constructed within the complex in 1954. The temple celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2000. The temple is managed by the Salivahana Chettiyar Trust for more than a couple of centuries. The trust also manages the Sundara Vinayagar and Selva Vinayagar temples, both of which are located close to the Anjaneya temple. The idol in the temple, believed to be self-manifested, is said to be more than 600 years old. The last kumbabhishekam (consecration) of the temple took place in 2012.

The Temple

The temple is the oldest temple dedicated to

in Chennai. Initially consisted only of the Hanuman sanctum, the temple was later expanded with other shrines. Two sanctums, both facing west, are placed next to each other near the main entrance. The main sanctum is dedicated to

. The unique feature of the idol in the temple is that the entire face of the Hanuman idol is turned to face to its left, towards south. The other sanctum is that of Kothandaramar alongside

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

and Sitadevi. Utsava murthies are located on the left side of the sanctums. Special occasions observed in the temple include Hanumath Jayanthi, Rama Navami and Gokulashtami. On Hanumath Jayanthi (birthday of Hanuman) and Rama Navami (birthday of Rama), the utsava murthies of Rama and Anjaneyar will be taken out on a procession.

References

External links

- Sri Veera Anjaneya Temple
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anjaneyar Temple At Chennai (Mylapore) Hanuman temples Hindu temples in Chennai

History

The Temple

See also

References

Further reading

External links