Madhava Perumal temple

As per Hindu legend, during the churning of the Ocean of milk, Vishnu instructed his consort Lakshmi to reach the hermitage of Sage Bhrigu. The sage was doing penance to attain a girl child and accepted the girl Lakshmi. the presiding deity, Madhava Perumal is believed to have married goddess Amrithavalli, the daughter of sage Bhrigu and thus attained the name Kalyana Perumal.[1]

The temple is believed to be the birthplace of Peyazhwar, one of the first three of the twelve azhwar saints of the 6th-9th century AD. The legendary Azhwar was believed to have come to earth from the 60 ft (18 m) well called Manikairavam inside the temple premises.[2] In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.[3]

The temple is built in Dravidian architecture and has two precincts. It is located in Mylapore, a suburb in Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The temple has a rectangular plan surrounded by 10 ft (3.0 m) high walls, pierced by a 5-tier gopuram, the gateway tower. The presiding deity is housed in the sanctum and is an image made of granite. The deity is seen in seated posture with images of Sridevi and Bhoomidevi on either sides. There is a small shrine for Varaha, an avatar of Vishnu, located behind the central shrine.[1] The shrine of Garuda facing Madhava Perumal, the eagle mount(vahana) of Vishnu, is located axial to the central shrine. The central shrine is approached through a worship hall and a narrow Ardha mandapam. The flagpost is located behind the shrine of Garuda, axial to the central shrine and the gateway tower. There are images of Azhwars in the worship hall on both sides and the shrine of Amrithavalli is located on the western side of the temple in the second precinct.

Image of the gateway tower, the gopuram

The temple is open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Vaishnavaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed four times a day: Ushathkalam at 8 a.m., Kalasanthi at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 7:00 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Kudamudakoothan and his consort Amirtavalli. During the worship, religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) are recited by priests, and worshippers prostrate themselves in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the temple.

During the Magam day of the Tamil month Maasi, the festival deity of Madha Perumal is taken in a float in temple tank.[4] During the subsequent days, the festival deities of Peyazhwar is taken in the float. The festival is one of the major festivals of the temple, which was not celebrated for a decade before 2011. It is believed that all the rivers converge in the tank during the auspicious day.[2] The annual festival, Brahmostavam, of the temple is celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March - April).[5]