CHENNAI TEMPLES - Tambaram - Nandivaram

Nandivaram Nandeeswarar Temple 

Nandeeswarar temple in Nandivaram, Guduvanchery near Chennai city in India is an ancient temple for Lord Shiva.

Nandivaram is a small settlement in Guduvanchery town. Guduvanchery is located at a distance of around 5 km from Tambaram, Chennai. The main attraction of Nandivaram is the ancient Nandeeswarar temple. The temple is located at a distance of around half a km from Guduvanchery bus stand. 

Nandeeswarar temple is big and should be at least 1000 years old. 

It should have been built during Pallava period. Unfortunately nothing much about the history of this temple is known. In fact, the information about this temple cannot be found in detail anywhere else on the net. The temple still remains unknown not only to most of the people of Chennai, but even to those who live in Guduvanchery.

The main deity of Nandeeswarar temple is Nandeeswarar (a name for Lord Shiva). The idol of Nandeeswarar (Shiv linga) is big and attractive. 

The name of the Goddess is Soundara Nayaki who is present in a standing posture at a separate shrine. There are also other idols in the prakara (corridor surround the main deities) such as Ganesh, Shanmuga, another Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Vishnu, Brahma, Durga, Chandikeswarar, Surya, Bhairav, and Veerabhadra. There are separate shrines for Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramanya with his consorst Valli and Devasena. 

There is a separate shrine for Navagraha. You can also find the beautiful statue of Maha Vishnu lying separately and an ancient idol of Nandi (bull) near the sthala vruksham (the holy tree of the temple).

As per the legend, Lord Brahma advised to churn the celestial sea to obtain “Amruth” which would help devas to become immortal. Devas, unable to churn the sea alone with Manthara Mountain and vasuki sought the help of Asuras. 

In the beginning, poison came out of the sea. Lord Shiva took the poison himself and saved this universe. At the end of the churning, Danwanthari appeared with Amruth pot in his hand. 

After the brief quarrel with Asuras, devas were able to retrieve the pot and consume the Amruth. The devas started singing, dancing and enjoying after having Amruth, and they totally forgot Lord Shiva due to who they were alive. 

After some time, they realized their mistake and apologized to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva forgave them and danced in the middle of his vahan (vehicle) Nandi’s (bull) horns, and hence he got the name Nandeeswarar.

Even though the temple is old, it should have been rebuilt multiple times as there are no antique signs in the temple except for the idols.