Kapaleeswara Temple
The Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai is a very ancient temple. The original temple was submerged under the sea & the current temple structure was a later construction. Karpagambal is said to have worshipped the Lord in the form of a peacock (Mayil in Tamil) & hence the area came to be called Mylapore.
Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar is the presiding deity. Lord Siva or Easwara stands with Kapalam or ascetic's bowl of skull in his hand. There are two legends associated with the Kapaleeswarar. The first one is that at the time of yuga pralaya (dissolution of cosmos) nothing remains except Lord Easwara with the Kapalam. He starts creation of new yuga from this Kapalam. The second one, according to the Puranas, during the meeting of Brahma and Shiva atop Mount Kailash Brahma failed to show the due respect to Shiva. Angered by this, Shiva plucked of one of Brahma's heads (kapalams). In an act of penance, Brahma came down to the site of Mylapore and installed a Lingam to please Shiva.
Parvati is worshipped at this temple as Karpagambal or goddess of the wish-yielding tree. There is also a peacock and a peahen caged inside the temple, to symbolize the tradition that Karpagambal had come in the form of peahen to pray to Kapaleeshwarar.
Architecture of Kapaleeswarar Temple
The Kapaleeshwarar temple is of typical Dravidian architectural style and an excellent example of the vishwakarmas sthapathis as also seen in the Ekambareswarar temple. There are two entrances to the temple marked by the gopuram on either side. The east gopuram is about 40-m high, while the smaller western gopuram faces the tank.
Pooja Kaalams
There are four daily pujas: the early morning puja, the day puja, the pradosha kaala puja, and the night puja. During Friday worship, the statue of the goddess Karpagambal is decorated with a kaasu maala, a garland made of gold coins.
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