Kapaleeshwarar temple
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Mylapore.kapali.gopuram.jpg
The Kapaleeshwarar temple is a Hindu temple located in Chennai, India. The temple is located in Mylapore, in the central part of the city.
The presiding deity of this temple is a form of Shiva called Kapaleeshwarar. The form of Shiva's wife Parvati at this temple is called Karpagambal (from the Tamil for "goddess of the wish-yielding tree"). The temple has other shrines dedicated to Ganesha (a dancing form called Nardana Vinayakar) and Muruga (called Singara Velar), with his two wives Valli and Deivayani. Smaller shrines are dedicated to other forms of Shiva (Annamalaiar, Sundareswarar and Jagatheswarar), Muruga (Palani Andavar) and others. In particular, there is a shrine with an image of a peahen, which is where Mylapore derives its name from.
It is not known whether the temple was built first and the place was then named "Mailapuri", or whether the place was already called "Mailapuri" and the peahen image was made as a reference to it.
History
It is commonly accepted that the temple was built in the 7th century CE by the ruling Pallavas. There are some who believe that the original temple was located on the beach, was subsequently destroyed and that the current temple (which is about 2 km inland) was built much later. Some people believe that the original temple *was* indeed on the beach, but that the sea has receded over centuries, leaving it 2 km inland.
Therotsavam
In the month of Vaikasi in the Tamil calendar, corresponding with mid-April to mid-May, the Kapaleeshwarar temple celebrates the nine day-long Aruvathimoovar festival (from the Tamil for "63"). This festival involves a therotsavam (Tamil: "ther" - "chariot" and "utsavam" - "festival"). In the festival, the idols of Kapaleeshwarar and Karpagambal are decorated with clothes and jewels, mounted on a vahanam (Sanskrit for "vehicle"), and then taken around the temple and its water tank in a pradakshinam (a clockwise orbit when seen from above). This is repeated with different vahanams over the next nine days.
The more important of the individual pradakshinams are the 'Athigara Nandhi' on the third day, the 'Rishaba Vahanam' on the midnight of the fifth day, the real ther itself (about 13 meters in height, pulled by people) on the seventh morning, and the 'Aruvathimoovar' on the eighth day. The latter is the most important procession. It is named after the 63 Nayanmars, and all 63 Nayanmar idols follow the Kapaleeshwarar idol on this procession.
Pilgrims come to see the temple and the processions during the Aruvathimoovar from across Tamil Nadu. This time of year is around the hottest in Chennai. The local residents of Mylapore traditionally give moru (Tamil for "buttermilk") to the thirsty visitors. Over the years this festival has been jocularly renamed the "Aruvathimoru".
Mythological explanation for the temple's existence
A legend associated with this temple is that Shiva's wife Parvati was distracted by a peacock and did not hear him call out to her. Annoyed, Shiva turned her into a peahen and sent her to earth. The peahen arrived at this temple and performed tapas (penance), and was eventually accepted again by Shiva. A temple was then built around the location of the peahen's tapas, and the place was named "Mayilapur" (Tamil: mayil: peacock, peahen; pur: generic place ending, like "-ville"), which was later anglicized to Mylapore.