Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal West Saidapet
Vaishnavite Temples, Chennai District
God
Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal facing east
Goddess
Alarmelmangai Thaayar facing east
Other Gods
Aandal, anjaneya, kothandaramar, senaimudali, nammalwar, thirumangaialwar, chakkarathalwar.
Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal West Saidapet is a large east facing with a 5 tier Rajagopuram. A separate shrine for anjaneya in straight down the road about half a kilometer away. Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal, West Saidapet originally had Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha as the main deities. Later other idols were discovered during an excavation and were installed and the temple renamed accordingly. Lord Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal appears in standing posture along with Sreedevi and Bhoodevi. Near his feet is Lord Narasimha without his usual lion face presenting a calm form and hence called ‘Azhagiya Singar’. The deity of Thaayar was found inside an anthill and is due to that scar faced. The south facing shrine of Lord Rama in wedding posture is in front of the Mantapa with Sita on his right and Lakshmana on his left whereas the processional deity is in coronation posture with Lakshmana on the right and Sita on the left. The processional deities of Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane and Adhikesava Perumal, Mylapore visit this temple.
Vimaanam – Punyakoti Vimaanam
Holy water (Theertham) – Thamarai pushkarini
Sacred Tree (Sthala Vriksham) – Shenbagam (Michelia champaka)
History
Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal West Saidapet was constructed in the 15th century during the Vijayanagara Rule, but according to historical records and inscriptions found inside the temple some of the elements date back more than 1000 years.
Legend
As mentioned above this was a small Rama temple in the early days and in the dreams of an ardent devotee came lord Venkateswara and asked him to construct the temple further. Since the Lord ‘Appeared’ (Prasannam) in the devotees dream he was named Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal. While installation of the main deity the image of ‘Azhagiya Singar’ was also installed and the temple came to be known as Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal West Saidapet temple.
Directions
Prasanna Venkatanarasimha Perumal West Saidapet is in Perumal kovil street in West Saidapet. Turn left to enter the subway after entering through the Saidapet arch. After climbing the subway take a right at the junction and the temple is in a street on your left and opposite the Anjaneya Shrine.
Stay and Food
Ganesh Mess near the temple area is cheap and serves lovely food.
